Starbucks is being sued over an unfortunate incident relating to the theft of a tip jar from one of its Missouri stores.
 
On March 3, 2008, then 19-year-old Aaron Poisson snatched the tip jar from the counter of a Crestwood (MO) Starbucks and fled the store.  According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, customer Roger Kreutz, who was ordering coffee at the time, took chase after Poisson.  An altercation occurred near Poisson's car, with Kruetz being thrown to the ground and then hit by Poisson's car as he rushed to escape the scene.  Sadly, Kreutz later died from head injuries related to the incident.
 
Poisson was arrested in St. Louis and eventually pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter.  He was sentenced to one year in prison.
 
Now Kreutz' family is suing Starbucks for the wrongful death of Kreutz, claiming that Starbucks “invited criminal behavior” by having the tip jar in a position where it is easily accessible to customers.  Furthermore the family claims Starbucks failed to have security in place to prevent such a crime and that Starbucks breached its duty to exercise reasonable care.  The amount of damages the family is claiming is unavailable.  Poisson is not named in the lawsuit.
 
Starbucks did not comment regarding the lawsuit. 
 
—Source:  St. Louis Post Dispatch and CBSNews.com