Police bust three alleged saddle thieves

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COLUMBUS, Wis., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Authorities in Wisconsin said they arrested three people accused of stealing 11 expensive saddles and attempting to sell them.

Sheriff's officials in Walworth and Dodge counties said a stable owner in Columbus called deputies and informed them he was suspicious of two men and a woman who offered to sell him the saddles, The (Madison, Wis.) Capital Times reported Friday.

"He was a little uneasy and called some friends who informed him they saw something on Facebook about a riding stable in Elkhorn that was broken into the evening before ... ," Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls said in a news release.

Investigators said the stable owner called back when the alleged thieves arrived with the saddles and deputies arrested Shawn Mercier, Michael Southworth and Jasmine Ingersoll.

The suspects allegedly stole the saddles, worth a total $5,000, from Dawson's Creek Ranch in Elkhorn Dec. 30 and called the Columbus stable owner the following day in an attempt to sell the stolen goods.

The suspects were being questioned in connection with other burglaries, investigators said.