Police Beat

Steubenville Police

Kid stuff: Juveniles causing problems at a business in the Fort Steuben Mall didn’t like it Friday when they were asked to leave. An employee told police one of the kids “began threatening to fight them outside” and asked police to remove the youth and advise him he’s banned from the premises for a year. A man who apparently knew them and was present took charge of the kids “after making them apologize to the staff.”

Spreading the word: A caller reported someone screaming in the alley Saturday behind the 1300 block of Maryland Avenue. Upon arrival, police said the man who’d alarmed neighbors told them he “was preaching the Gospel of God” and didn’t need their help.

Can’t get along: Neighbors in the 1100 block of Arlington Avenue continue to complain about each other. A male told police he was headed home when he discovered his neighbor “parked in the street, partially blocking his garage” and said the man “seemed to intentionally take his time” moving the vehicle. Minutes later, a female living next door complained that the caller had attached a camera to his garage so he could “monitor her children.” She said the camera rotates “to follow her kids where they are going.”

Dispatchers spotted a male relieving himself near the gas pumps outside a business in the downtown area Tuesday. When police questioned him, they said the man claimed he had to do it because he has gonorrhea.

Dressing down: A caller reported a male undressing in the 100 block of N. 6th Street Sunday. Police found a man in the grass with “an obviously swollen ankle.” He said he took his pants off because he hurt his ankle, but police said he was wearing shorts under them. He didn’t want an ambulance because a family member was en route to help him.

Flipper fight: Two employees at a Sunset Boulevard restaurant had a disagreement and one of them slapped the other with a grill scraper Sunday. Police said the man had a red welt on the back of his shoulder, but he didn’t want to pursue charges.

Door knocker: A caller in the 2400 block of Chestnut Street reported a man “pounding on their door and looking in their windows” Saturday. Once there, the caller told police it “was a misunderstanding over a parking spot.”

Action-reaction: A city resident told police her daughter lied about where she was after school and it took her 45 minutes to find the girl May 7. When she got her home, she told police she swatted the girl’s backside “with a wood spoon … multiple times” and her daughter ran to a neighbor’s house. Police told the girl she needed to listen to her mother.

Theft: Two people, one of them known to police, left Kroger May 7 without paying for $150 in merchandise. Affidavits for misdemeanor theft and trespassing were forwarded to the police prosecutor.

Hasty exit: Police responded to a report of a disturbance in the 300 block of Hill Avenue Saturday. A man exiting the property told police everything was fine but “she beat me up.” A female in the residence denied an altercation but said she wanted him to leave.

Charged: Cassidy Delong-Ruckman, 28, 103 Eleanor St., Mingo Junction, possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia Monday.

Jefferson County Sheriff

Money talks: A county resident and her neighbor had a disagreement over money May 9. The woman said her neighbor offered her $170 if she came to his house to entertain him but later “accused her of stealing $200 from him.” She said he followed her home and was “threatening to blow her head off” and pointing his gun at her home. While en route, she called dispatchers to cancel the emergency call and deputies said they could hear him in the background saying they “could work something out.” Deputies said the two were standing on her porch when they arrived and told them their assistance was no longer needed.

Living in filth: Deputies were asked to do a welfare check Sunday on a home they’d checked several months ago with Children’s Services and found not much had changed. Deputies said the home was in “deplorable condition” and the toilet was full of excrement, with more on the floor of the shower. The parents blamed conditions on a child having had a digestive issue several days earlier, but when asked why the mess hadn’t been cleaned up were told they “clean on Mondays.”

Checked: An Empire resident told deputies Tuesday someone rewrote a check she’d written to her credit card company for $61. She said the “check was washed and rewritten for $9,000,” deputies said. She said the bank requested she file a report “due to the check bouncing her account by $2,000.”

A caller said a female “punched a window out of (his) camper and removed various items” Monday. The caller said she showed up “wanting a Bluetooth speaker” and when no one answered the door or let her in, she “threw a tie down through the window.” She was transported to an area hospital, then transferred to a regional hospital to have a laceration to her arm addressed.

Time to go: A county resident said a male had “threatened to burn down her house” Sunday. She said they’d been arguing for several days and he’d been drinking.

Oops: Deputies report a juvenile snuck out of his home to see a “friend,” but on his way home his e-bike lost power.