Jefferson County Sheriff

Fraud victim: A Toronto woman said she got a text from what she thought was her bank, asking her to verify purchase of a plane ticket to Shanghai, Monday. She said she really believed it was a security alert and provided the bank information the sender requested, only to find out a few days later that $8,771 had been drained from her account. She said the bank reviewed it for fraud and then advised her that they couldn’t prove she hadn’t authorized the purchase and advised her to file a police report.

Mean drunk: A “highly intoxicated” man was refusing to let a woman leave their residence, Tuesday. She told deputies no weapons were involved but they waited with her while she packed her things to leave.

Reported: A Yorkville resident reported hearing shots fired in the vicinity of the old mill, Monday. The caller wasn’t sure where the sounds originated from but said shots were still being fired while he was reporting them. Officers were unable to find anything out of place and said several people they spoke with said they hadn’t heard them.

Mistake: A Carrolton woman said she loaned her car to a friend who wrecked it backing out of an Amsterdam parking lot, Tuesday

Steubenville Police

Dogged pursuit: An officer spotted a dog “hanging outside an upstairs window” in the 1200 block of Wellesley Avenue, Tuesday. Police said the dog had pushed through the plastic barriers of an air conditioner unit in a second story window, and when no one answered the door left a note for the homeowner to call. The woman did call police, claiming the dog was in a crate and her daughter was home. When she was told the officer’s body camera had recorded video of the animal on the roof she said “her dog is allowed out the window and on the roof due to it being her property,” police said. She was advised if it continues she can be charged with animal neglect.

Hands off: Police filed domestic charges against a homeless man seen on city cameras punching his female companion, Tuesday. The initial report was of a man “pushing a female to the ground a couple of times during an argument” at the intersection of Sixth Street and Lincoln Avenue, but when they checked the area couldn’t locate the couple. Not long after callers reported a female being assaulted near South and Sixth streets, and while they were enroute dispatchers advised city cameras captured footage of the man punching the woman. Police located the couple and told them about the calls they’d received about two people arguing and said the pair readily admitted to arguing, but denied it escalated to physical violence. They said the woman “was clearly upset and some of her face was red” but she had no obvious injuries. Police said when they told Kenneth L. Payne, 48, no fixed address, that he was under arrest he “began yelling … and would not take a seat in the back of the cruiser” and began “banging his head on the partition and … thrashing around while kicking the door.” They claim he also was “yelling threats about what would happen if (officers) met him outside of work,” and making other veiled threats. Payne was charged with criminal mischief as well as domestic violence after they found broken plastic from the seatbelt cover plate and muddy footprints on the door from him trying to kick it out, police said.

Breaking bad: A North Fifth Street resident said a woman was breaking out windows at his home and trying to get inside, Tuesday. Police said they stopped the woman from fleeing the scene with a tablet in her hands and said her hand was bleeding from a cut caused by the broken glass, but she refused treatment. Police said they charged Amy Whittekind, 44, no fixed address, with attempted burglary.

Insecure load: A man hauling an appliance on Wilson Avenue near Spencer Avenue said it toppled out of his trailer and landed in front of another vehicle that couldn’t stop, Tuesday. The other vehicle was scraped and dented, but no one was injured.

Hangers on: A city resident told police his ex-girlfriend has been harassing him for more than three months, Tuesday. He said she now has his neighbors harassing him and, earlier in the week “continuously knocked on the door until he allowed her to enter,” then began arguing with him and hit him several times before leaving. He claimed his ex “is on drugs and … he didn’t want to get her in trouble,” and that he didn’t call police at the time “because he did not feel officer response was necessary.”

Control freak: Callers reported a couple arguing in the 500 block of South Fifth Street, Wednesday. A male who was involved told police he didn’t live at the residence and insisted hi girlfriend had already left, but after the homeowner gave them permission to search the house to make sure the woman was OK, he admitted she was upstairs. They talked to his girlfriend, who told police they’d argued, and he refused to let her leave. She didn’t want to pursue charges but told police she’d like to leave while they were still there.

What drugs do: A downtown resident told police “There were several people chasing him, attempting to kill him,” Wednesday. He said he had been hearing voices in his head that are echoing and believes the voices are the people chasing him. Police said the man is a known drug user, but he denied taking any drugs and said it was about three days since he last used meth. He agreed to get a mental evaluation.

Big bite: A city employee trying to speak with a resident about a water issue said the homeowner’s dog bit him, breaking the skin, Tuesday. The homeowner was advised the dog must be quarantined for 10 days.