Police Examine Cash Found In Restaurant

Police have begun a criminal investigation into $60,000 in cash left at a restaurant.

Police Lt. Janet Thiessen said Friday that investigators will examine the cash for fingerprints and check a videotape taken by security cameras on Sept. 27 at the restaurant near the Vancouver Mall. They will look for frames showing someone with the money or revealing anyone known to police.

The criminal probe comes after a police dog detected drug residue on the money.

Authorities want to determine who lost the money, how it was obtained, whether the person has a legal right to it and what criminal history, if any, that person has, Thiessen said.

Vancouver lawyer Jeffrey Barrar has told police he will file a formal claim for the money on behalf of a client but will not reveal the client’s name. Barrar would not say how much his client lost, why his client had so much money or whether it was obtained legally.

The bartender who found the cash, who does not want her name revealed, also wants it back. She came across the case of money while clearing off a table where two men and a woman had sat.