Jefferson County Sheriff
It's the drugs: A Bloomingdale woman said her daughter was threatening to kill her because she wouldn't give her money for drugs, Sunday. She told deputies her daughter has a drug problem, and has been abusing crack cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other drugs for the past 25 years. She said her now middle-age daughter "became upset and began making threats when she wouldn't give her money to buy drugs." She said her daughter was "out of control, irate … and calling her explicit names." A juvenile living with his grandmother said the woman intervened, and told his grandmother the woman had said she was going to "kill her, and that's a threat." The grandmother said her daughter threatened to kill her with a hammer last month, and she, her sister and the juvenile all told deputies they think the woman was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and they are afraid of her.
Sad: An Adena woman told deputies she was assaulted by her daughter, who has a substance abuse problem, Nov. 25. She said her daughter was in the bathroom "for quite some time" and when she knocked on the door claimed she was getting into the shower. The mother opened the door and discovered her daughter was fully dressed with the shower running, and told deputies her daughter "became extremely agitated and shoved her into the tub." Her son heard the commotion and ran in to help his mother. A physical altercation ensued, and the daughter fled the residence. Deputies tried to get the daughter to return to the residence but said she was "erratic over the phone and kept stating she was the victim" and claimed she was going to the hospital. She refused to return, despite being warned that she would face additional charges if she failed to comply. The daughter already has an outstanding warrant out of Belmont County.
It won't get better: A Wintersville man said his daughter was assaulted by her boyfriend and wouldn't leave, Monday. Deputies said furniture was turned over and the apartment appeared to have been ransacked. The female said he'd thrown things around during the argument, telling deputies the male is fine when he's sober but "when he is drinking, he is verbally abusive." The female, who is pregnant, claimed he hadn't touched her and didn't want to pursue charges though she did want him to leave. Deputies retrieved several items the male wanted from the apartment and he left, only to return "and become argumentative about leaving" and yelling at the woman's father. He finally agreed to be transported to a mid-town gas station. The woman eventually admitted her boyfriend threw her on the hood of a car, but said it happened after she'd hit him.
Greener grass: A Wintersville man said his neighbor's guests keep turning around in his lot and tearing up the grass, Monday. He told deputies the visitors are at the neighbor's house for five or 10 minutes and leave, and they keep using his property to park and turn around and threatened to "take care of it." Deputies said the lot is actually owned by the American Legion post and they would have to file the complaint. He was warned not to approach the neighbor if he couldn't be civil.
Bizarre: A Steubenville man reported an Island Creek township resident was fighting with a man at her residence, Nov. 23. Deputies said they didn't find a man at the home, only the woman and her three children. The woman was behaving erratically, changing her story, claiming her house was going to catch fire so she had her children turn the breaker off, then claimed a man was trying to get into her home. She also claimed her kids had been assaulted. Deputies realized the woman might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol so they spoke with the children, who said their mother's strange behavior "happens all the time." They also said no one had been assaulted or tried to get in the home. After a relative arrived to watch the children she agreed to go to the hospital.
Frequent visitor: A Smithfield woman found an intruder hiding in her house, Thursday. A neighbor told deputies he'd heard what sounded like arguing coming from the woman's house so he ran over with his gun while his wife called for help, and said he saw a man running away. The homeowner said she'd come home from the store and started rearranging furniture to get ready for Christmas when she heard "a couple of noises" she shouldn't have. She said she checked the house and didn't find anyone so she called a friend to keep her company. It wasn't until her kids returned home and she went upstairs to put them to bed that she found the intruder hiding in her kids' closet. She said they used to date and since breaking up, "he hasn't stopped coming after her." She told deputies he's broken into her home multiple times and she has an active protection order against him and wants to press charges.
Targeted: A Steubenville man told deputies someone tried to open two credit cards in his name, Monday. Attempts were made at Bank of America and US Bank, he said. He contacted the banks and they stopped the applications and changed his user names and passwords on all of his bank accounts.
Steubenville Police
Partied too hard: Police responding to reports of two men fighting in the street in the 200 block of Chestnut Street said they found a number of people who'd had too much to drink and obstructed their efforts to talk to the parties involved, with several of them displaying hostility, Saturday. They said a woman who "appeared intoxicated" was "very hostile" said two brothers were fighting and one threw a rock through the other man's windshield, then demanded police leave and threatened to call higher-ups if they didn't. Another family member who was "intoxicated but very helpful" told them two of the woman's brothers had fought and were inside the residence, then helped officers find them so they could talk. Police said they encountered several "extremely rude and self-entitled individuals who were continuously closing and locking doors, demanding officers leave and interfering with the overall investigation." They located one of the brothers involved "who appeared intoxicated and hostile with officers" and initially wouldn't tell them what had happened and said he didn't call police so they needed to leave. Eventually he told them his brother was "intoxicated and got out of hand" and he had to grab him to "keep him from doing any harm." Officers described the vehicle with the windshield his sister said their brother had shattered with rock and he said it was his and there was no problem, retreating to the house to speak with his brother while the sister was "continuing to harp on officers and demanding names and badge numbers." The second brother was on a couch "and appeared highly intoxicated. He was not cooperative with the investigation and was demanding (police) leave," they said. The brother with the broken windshield eventually told police neither he nor his sister saw it being broken, claiming it was a "random act of vandalism and that he was not pursuing the issue." Since they were all getting along, no one had been injured and no one was cooperating, police warned them if they had to return there would be arrests.
Two women, two stories: A South Fifth Street resident said another woman had opened her front door, knocked her phone from her hand and broke it and then kicked her dog, Saturday. The other woman said the caller's phone "was already broken and … she had kicked the dog because (the other woman) struck her."
Fast talking: A cashier at Wal-Mart was scammed out of $609 by two men who paid for a $4 item with a $100 bill, "(and) then began telling him that he meant to give him a $5 bill," Saturday. Employees said one of the men began asking for change for various amounts of money, continuing for several minutes until the cashier "realizes what's going on (and) stops the transactions and tries to get help from a manager." The customer, a male wearing a Carhartt jacket and black toboggan, put three $5 bills on the counter and left with his friend, a black male wearing a green hoodie, walking around an employee who tried to stop him. Once outside the men separated and the man in the Carhartt jacket with the money got in a white vehicle and left, employees said.
Drugs: A man was found unresponsive in the 600 block of Hermania Avenue, Sunday. Steubenville firefighters/EMS administered Narcan but he didn't respond, so they loaded him into an ambulance where he regained consciousness. Police said they found a crack pipe in his pocket and a 9mm Luger High Point under him so he was taken into custody. Frank Keifer, 57, 615 Hermania Ave., Steubenville, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and weapons under disability. Later, firefighters told police they'd administered 8 mg of Narcan to a woman at the scene, so she was given an overdose form.