NEWVILLE — Sometimes just showing the uniform and badge is enough to put a dent in crime.
Such was apparently the case of an Edgerton woman's missing purse last Wednesday.
The woman left the purse containing $550 at the Dunkin Donuts just off Interstate 90/39 in Newville.
She was on her way north and realized her purse was missing by the time she got to the Wisconsin Dells. She remembered leaving it on the floor by her chair and so called Dunkin Donuts, according to a Rock County Sheriff's Office report.
Employees looked but couldn't find the purse.
A deputy was dispatched, and as he was walking around a maintenance man approached him with the purse. He said he'd found it in a trash bin behind a nearby Shell station, according to a report. The only thing missing, apparently, was the cash.
But two hours later, Scott Carson of Dunkin Donuts called the sheriff's department, saying that he was putting trash bags in a trash bin and found the $550 inside.
It was not clear if it was the same trash bin.
Another woman was issued a municipal citation for theft in the incident, but the investigation still is pending, and not all reports have been written.
Cmdr. Troy Knudson of the sheriff's department said it appears the woman got nervous when she saw the deputy and dumped the cash.