Woman Walked Away With $4,000 Envelope; Got Caught: Report

RACINE COUNTY, WI — Authorities in Racine County say a 32-year-old Milwaukee woman has been charged after she found an envelope containing $4,000 at a gas station, then lied about being its owner before walking off with it.

Authorities say Holly A. Krueger has been charged with theft. If she's convicted, she faces up to three years and six months of imprisonment.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Racine County, a man went to the Pilot Travel Center located near I-94 and Northwestern Ave. on Oct. 8. Earlier that day, he pulled out a large amount of cash in order to buy a car.

Authorities say the man took $4,000 out of his bank account in $100 increments and brought it with him, carrying it in a U.S. Bank envelope that he tucked in a shirt pocket. Officers who spoke with him said he was checking out at the travel center's cash register when he took the envelope from his shirt pocket, placed it on the checkout counter, and then walked away without grabbing it.

According to the criminal complaint, Krueger later came to the same cash register and took the envelope. When a checkout clerk — who in the moment realized there was a large amount of cash inside the envelope — asked her if the envelope was hers, she reportedly said that it was.

When the rightful owner of the envelope realized he left his money at Pilot, he called and spoke to an employee, who told him that she saw a woman check out and take the envelope. He called police.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were able to view surveillance camera footage at the Pilot, and compare footage with booking photos to find a match. They did.

Krueger made her initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court on Dec. 5. She had been on probation for a June 2019 case in which she was charged for resisting an officer.