SomeGuy
668, Neighbor of the Beast
Guess the kid is out of luck and the kops are 18k richer.
Star Tribune
Star Tribune
A generous 16-year-old stumbled upon abandoned drug money along a bike trail and was giving away hundred-dollar bills when a sheriff's deputy caught up with him.
It's believed to have been $18,000 in drug loot that a 16-year-old found along a bicycle trail in Farmington this week, and then took home -- for the night, at least.
"By morning, he shared his fortune with everybody," or so it seemed, said Dawana Witt, a Dakota County sheriff's deputy who cracked the case.
The teen gave away fistfuls of hundred-dollar bills, which soon showed up in four south metro schools Tuesday.
By day's end, Witt and three fellow school resource officers had snapped up about $11,000 the boy gave away. Investigators ended up recovering $18,000 -- nearly all the cash the boy found and either kept or gave away, Witt said.
The case began with the teen's discovery as he pedaled his bike near Pilot Knob Road and 195th Street after school Monday.
Investigators suspect that not long before that, a marijuana dealer who feared he was being tailed had tossed the loot out a car window -- along with several pounds of high-grade marijuana and scales, said Chief Deputy Dave Bellows of the Sheriff's Office.
"We're confident that both the money and marijuana wound up in the ditch at the same time," Bellows said.
It's understandable why the boy missed the pot, he said.
"It's a weedy area. This kid goes down, opens up the bag and sees a large quantity of cash," Bellows said. "I don't think he's looking for anything else."
On Tuesday morning, Witt fielded a call from a supervisor of Marschall Line Inc., a Farmington bus company serving the alternative school that the boy attends, Alliance Education Center in Rosemount. Students attend that school part time while also enrolled at other high schools or Dakota County Technical College.
A bus aide reported that the teen had asked her early Tuesday whether she could accept gifts. She told him no, but after he exited the bus, she found $1,200 in her bag, Witt said. The aide told Witt that the teen apparently also gave cash to a classmate on the bus.
Witt interviewed the aide, and then the teen with the loot. He first said the cash was from his allowance before telling the truth. Witt asked him why he gave cash to the bus aide.
"She has a kid and she needs the money," the teen replied.
He led skeptical Dakota County authorities to the ditch where he found the money, and there, they spotted 4 pounds of marijuana and the scales.
Witt and Bellows said they expect no charges against the teen for not turning in the cash, though state law requires anyone who finds anything of value to make reasonable attempts to return it to its owner.
"This kid, he has a good heart, he really does," Witt said. "He just made a bad decision. I don't think he had any bad intentions."
Finding thousands of dollars presented an exciting, though misguided, opportunity for a kid who likes to give, she said.
"All I've got to say," said Witt, "is that he was very happy for about 24 hours."