‘I am mortified,’ woman identified as ‘serial defecator’ tells officers who caught her in the act
By Derrick Rose
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STOUGHTON, Wisconsin (WISN) — Some might call it a “Code Brown.”
Stoughton police, last month, turned heads and perhaps a few stomachs with a social media post not fit for dinner-time debate.
“SPD USES DRONE TO ARREST SERIAL DEFECATOR IN CITY PARK,” the Feb. 5 message read in all caps. “After multiple reports of residents finding human feces and used toilet paper in a city park, SPD used trail cameras and a drone to ID and cite the person responsible,” the message continued.
Before that post went viral, records obtained by 12 News show police found two “number 2’s” in Schefelker Park, about 30 minutes outside Madison.
In a Feb. 4 report, one officer wrote, “I located another pile of frozen human excrement on top of the snow that melted through but was now frozen. Both piles had pieces of crumpled toilet tissue near them. The last snowfall in the area was overnight to early morning on 02-02-26, leading me to believe the initial pile was prior to that snowfall, while the second pile was post that snowfall.”
“Hope they made her pick it up,” one person wrote in the comments on the department’s Facebook post.
“It’s way too cold to be doing your business outside,” someone else added.
Determined to catch the culprit, police set up trail cameras and launched the department drone.
At approximately 5 a.m. Feb. 5, the incident reports said, an officer spotted a runner leaving the main trail toward the woods, police believed, to drop another smelly souvenir. Roughly two minutes later, according to the drone video 12 News obtained through a public records request, a person can be seen emerging from the woods to return to the main path, unaware that an officer was waiting with a body camera rolling.
“Can you come here and talk to me?” the officer says to a woman in the body camera video, also obtained through a public records request. “Can you look directly above me? See the drone that just caught you going to the bathroom back here?”
“Yeah,” the woman responds.
“You’ve been doing this quite a while, too,” the officer said.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” she replies.
The woman’s apology was not enough to wipe away what had already been done. She explained to the officer she’s a regular runner and normally sees a portable toilets on her route during summer months.
Still, because of the series of incidents, and apparently catching the woman in the act, the officer promised to issue her a citation for indecent conduct.
In the Stoughton police Facebook post, an official noted in the comment section, “For those concerned that the suspect was/is homeless, she is not.”
She is, however, a health professional, 12 News has learned. Public records and online profiles indicate the woman is a nurse practitioner with connections to UW Health and SSM Health. 12 News is not identifying the woman by name as she has not been charged with a crime.
She did not answer multiple calls or respond to a text message seeking comment. In the video, she did express regret after a third and likely final fecal infraction.
“I am mortified,” she told the officer in the video.
“I will let you continue your run. Please don’t do this anymore,” the officer replied.
It is unclear if the woman has paid the $187 fine.
The initial Facebook post from the police department has hundreds of interactions, shares and comments; however, the image the department used showing a thermal image of a person with their hands raised could be considered misleading. When asked why the video provided in response to the records request did not include video with thermal imaging matching the image in the post, a department official said, “The image posted on Social Media was a Google Search Image, nothing from our drone or this case.”
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