A woman from Appleton, Wis. may have thought she had a good idea, but there was something about her little scheme that started smelling like a dirty rat.

Debbie R. Miller, 41, is accused of planting a dead lab rat in restaurant food and demanding $500,000 to keep quiet.

The woman claimed to find the rat in her lunch April 17 as she ate at the upscale Seasons Restaurant in Grand Chute, according to the criminal complaint. She then threatened to alert the media unless the owners paid her $500,000.

The owners turned the rat over to their insurance company. Investigators there determined the rodent was a white laboratory rat. Tests also suggested the rodent had been cooked in a microwave, but the restaurant doesn’t use microwaves in cooking.

Miller, was charged Monday with a felony count of extortion and faces misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.

— Officer Tim Pochron was all set for his first day on the job with the Hobart, Ind. police department.

But less than one half hour after his starting time Monday morning, his police squad car was nearly totaled in a crash that occurred just outside his home. The officer was not in the car at the time of the accident.

“Pochron was 29 minutes into the first day of his new job when his parked squad car was struck,” Hobart police Lt. Steve Houck said.

A Crown Point man had driven his car into a tree and Pochron’s car, police said. The man tested positive for drugs, was arrested and taken to a hospital.

The force of the collision bent the rear axle of the squad car.

Pochron, 26, was sworn in last week. He was to start his first day Monday on the morning shift. He previously worked as a police officer in the neighboring Lake County city of Lake Station.

It really wasn’t the first day on the job that he expected. He spent most of the morning filling out paperwork at the station. Deputy Chief Jeff White said Pochron’s squad car can be repaired, but he’s not sure how much it will cost.

— In New York, the catwalk is going to the dogs.