Couple Arrested After Allegedly Leaving Waitress Meth For a Tip

SEASIDE, Oregon – Ryan L. Bensen, 40, of Beaverton, and Erica A. Manley, 37, of Cascade Locks, were reportedly so pleased with their service at a Seaside restaurant, they allegedly left the waitress an unusual tip: an envelope full of methamphetamine.

Seaside Police Chief Robert Gross said the couple first offered up a gift card to pay their bill and then later ponied up an envelope with a question mark scribbled on it. The waitress contacted police after finding a crystal-like substance inside the envelope which was later identified by officers as methamphetamine. 

“She [the waitress] was like ‘Whoa — what the …?'” said Steve Keszler, a manager at the downtown steakhouse. “We’re not a little dive bar or hole in the wall. We’re a classy place.”

Bensen and Manley were still at the classy place when police arrived. A search of Manley’s purse revealed a large quantity of methamphetamine.

After obtaining a search warrant, police combed through a room at the nearby Holiday Inn Express where both suspects had been staying, Gross said. Police uncovered a meth lab that included a small torch, batteries and other items, according to police.