Seattle Cop Gets Woman's Purse Back With A Selfie

SEATTLE, WA — A Seattle police officer was able to retrieve a woman's purse from a wayward ride-share driver by texting a selfie of himself.

The incident happened around 2 a.m. Sunday in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. A woman had taken a ride-share service — like Uber or Lyft — and later realized that she left her purse in the car. She desperately needed her purse because it contained her ID and she was set to fly home to California that day.

So the woman contacted the driver and asked to get it back — she even offered him a reward. He refused, and demanded more money, Seattle police say.

It's reasonable the woman would expect the driver to return her purse. There are plenty of stories across the U.S. of ride-share drivers returning lost goods. Last July, Chicago Uber driver Jose Figueroa returned to a man a wallet that contained $3,000 in cash. In February, an Ohio Lyft driver returned a bag a man had left in her car; it contained a BB gun, underwear and two cell phones.

The woman saw Seattle police Officer Eric Michl working a DUI patrol in the area, and she flagged him down to ask for help. Michl called the ride-share driver but was sent to voicemail. Michl then texted the driver, telling him that he could be arrested for not returning the woman's purse and that he could have his car impounded.

To prove he wasn't messing around, Michl included a selfie of himself in uniform.

The ride-share driver responded right away and returned to Capitol Hill to give the woman her purse back. The ride-share driver wasn't arrested, but the case remains open, police said. He told police he didn't immediately return the purse because he was busy with other rides.

Image via Seattle Police