NATICK, MA — An Ashland woman has been charged with eight counts of destruction of property for defecating in public around Natick, according to WHDH. Andrea Grocer left piles of poop near the Natick Outdoor Store over the last few months, police said.

Grocer, 51, was arrested on Wednesday when police spotted her squatting in a parking lot just before 7 a.m., Lt. Cara Rossi told the station.

Police stepped up patrols in the area to catch the pooper recently. Police found toilet paper at some scenes, so they were able to rule out an animal.

This isn't the first time an outdoor pooper has had a run-in with police. In 2018, poop found near a New Jersey school's track confused an entire town — until police figured out a local school official from a different town was behind the deeds. But, Thomas Tramaglini likely wasn't doing it for fun. He was an avid runner, and some speculated he was experiencing a phenomenon known as "runner's trots." A jogger from Colorado Springs, Colo., was nicknamed "the mad pooper" in 2017.

A 51-year-old woman named Andrea Grocer has run in recent races in Massachusetts — including a No. 86 finish in the 2019 Cape Cod Half Marathon and a 52:24.3 time in the 2019 New Balance Falmouth Road Race last August — but police have not confirmed if the Natick poopings have an athletic connection. Like Natick's serial pooper, Tramaglini and the Colorado Springs jogger generally used the same spot for relief.

Grocer is due back in court in March.

