Steubenville Police

Squatting: Police responding to reports of several people entering a vacant building in the 600 block of North Fifth Street found a homeless man inside who said he’d been staying there for several days and insisted he had permission to be there, Tuesday. The building’s owner said he hadn’t told anyone they could stay there and asked police to remove the man from the premises. He was warned not to return. Later in the shift police said the same man claimed a man he knows only as “Tony” stabbed him several times in the face, hand and neck. Police said they saw no sign he’d been injured but the man wanted to pursue charges anyway.

Ongoing issue: A Maryland Avenue resident said he was trying to drive away when a tall juvenile from his neighbor’s property “rode a bicycle up and in front of his vehicle to intentionally cut him off,” Tuesday. He asked police to speak with the neighbor’s kids, but the mother wasn’t home and the kids said it was a friend, not them, on the bike.

Purse caper: A Colonial Drive resident told police someone took her purse, Tuesday. She said when she got in her building the day before, she sat her purse on the floor to open her mail box and forgot to pick it up. When she went back to get it, she said the purse was gone, along with her ID, her Social Security and Medicare cards and two prescriptions.

Served; Daniel Lee Wilson, 33, Johnson Lane, Toronto, bench warrant (Municipal Court), Tuesday; Christina M. Raffle, 41, no fixed address, failure to appear (Municipal Court), Tuesday.

Cited: Cheryl A. Behanna, 34, 305 Beechwood Blvd., Wintersville, assured clear distance ahead Tuesday after a rear-end collision with another motorist waiting to make a left turn on Sunset Boulevard at Bryden Road. No injuries reported; Jacqueline Cash, 62, Steubenville, driving under suspension following a collision Tuesday in the 3300 block of Sunset Boulevard.

Jefferson County Sheriff

Bad reaction: A landlord trying to post a 10-day eviction notice on a property in Adena said someone inside the building began breaking items inside the residence, then threw trash and chairs in the yard, Tuesday. The landlord said the tenant threatened to beat them if they didn’t leave. Due to the threats, deputies advised the landlord to send the tenant a three-day eviction notice by mail and contact the court about the damage and trash.

Message sent: A man in Yorkville asked deputies if he could pepper spray a dog that comes near him when he goes for runs in the neighborhood, Wednesday. Deputies suggested he try to avoid the dog and if that doesn’t work he could defend himself but they can’t definitively say it’s okay to pepper spray someone else’s dog simply because it approaches you. The deputy said the man did not seem to like his response, so the officer tried again to explain there are many factors that go into self-defense and he couldn’t just say it’s okay to pepper spray a dog. As the man was leaving with his friends the deputy said he heard them saying he’d “told them they couldn’t defend themselves,” so he walked over to make sure they understood what it was he actually said. A woman who was in the group was irritated by his words so he activated his body camera and explained again, noting they “still didn’t approve of his answer.”

Tracked: A caller reported seeing an intoxicated man walking on the railroad tracks toward Costonia, Tuesday. Deputies used a drone to search for him but couldn’t locate him.

Moving on: A woman told deputies her friend was driving in the Toronto area when a man in a traffic vest waved her down, Wednesday. She said when her friend slowed down the man approached “aggressively,” so she drove away.

Scam concerns: Christopher Avenue residents said a man was walking around their complex asking people for money and their Social Security numbers, Tuesday.