Police reports

Brooke County sheriff

Charged: Joseph A. Pinacchio, 27, 3643 Morgan Drive, Weirton, driving under the influence and while suspended- administrative Thursday.

Steubenville Police

Recurring theme: A Maryland Avenue resident has been charged with fourth offense operating a vehicle under the influence, felony OVI, driving under suspension and stop sign violations, Thursday. Police initially booked Darl Keith West, 45, 1317 Maryland Ave. (rear), into the Jefferson County jail on an eight-hour intoxication hold, but upped it to no bond after learning he had three prior OVI convictions in Municipal Court during a 10-year period — 2012, 2013 and 2018 — and had subsequently pleaded guilty in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court to felony OVI. Police allege they saw West run a stop sign at Langley Avenue and Sunset Boulevard and weave in and out of his traffic lane, and said when he exited his car, they could smell alcohol on him and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Officers said he admitted having “one beer,” but reported he had difficulty with field sobriety tests and refused a breathalyzer test.

Questionable: A resident in the 400 block of Dresden Avenue told police his 14-year-old stepson and his girlfriend, both juveniles, were breaking into his residence, Thursday. He said the two are living in his basement, and after he and his own girlfriend left for Cleveland earlier in the day the two teens “broke into the upstairs” and showed police how he’d placed a board against the bottom of the door and wedged it into a wall to keep them in the basement. The door wasn’t damaged, and when he admitted there was no kitchen or bathroom in the basement that the kids could use police told him he couldn’t lock them in the basement. His stepson said he and his girlfriend had gone upstairs because they needed to use the restroom. As they were leaving police said the man took the kids a gallon of water and a box of crackers to keep them for the night, and said he would be sure to put a stove and refrigerator in the basement they could use the following day. He was reminded, again, he can’t lock them in the basement without access to a bathroom or food and water.

Pedestrian struck: A motorist looking for a parking space near Wal-Mart told police he hit a pedestrian, Thursday. He said he had turned down an aisle when his sister screamed at him to stop. He said he hadn’t seen anyone walking while he was turning. The pedestrian said he’d finished loading his car and was walking up the aisle when he was struck by the car, injuring his left leg. Steubenville firefighters/EMS took him to the hospital. Police said security footage showed the pedestrian wasn’t in the crosswalk at the time of the accident.

Two-fer: A woman who reported a disturbance at her Wellesley Avenue residence ended up in custody on an outstanding warrant, along with a man she said was causing problems with her child, Thursday. She said she didn’t see his interaction with her son, but when she questioned him about it he “began acting in an aggressive and frantic manner.” She said she’d allowed the man to stay with them “for the last couple of weeks but he was causing too much trouble. Devon Turner, 42, and Clifford D. Garrison, 38, both of 1324 Wellesley Ave., were booked into the county jail on warrants for probation violation.

Street fights: A man parked in front of an apartment building on Wilkins Street said someone left a note on his windshield threatening to have the vehicle towed because he didn’t live there, Thursday. Police told him as long as the vehicle is legally parked in the street it would not be towed.

On foot: An officer headed to a call spotted a gold Chevy Impala wrecked at Garret and Railroad avenues, Thursday. He said there was heavy damage to the guardrail at the corner of Lincoln and Garrett, and an electric pole also had been hit and the car was sideways in the street with disabling damage to the front driver’s side. The tire also appeared to be detached and the windshield shattered. The driver fled the scene prior to police arriving, so it was towed and a hold placed on it until he or show shows up.

Left: A red Volvo semi was abandoned at the marina, Thursday. The vehicle didn’t have a plate, though police said there were papers with the VIN number and other information on some papers in the window.

Never ends: A landlord said he spotted a former tenant walking away from a burned-out residence in the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, then found a window had been broken out and a table with a chair on top of it pushed against it as a makeshift ladder, Thursday. He told police he thought the ex-tenant broke the window.

Freaky: A woman walking in the 1000 block of North Sixth Street said a male she didn’t know “became irritated” for no reason and began taking his clothes off and walking toward her, threatening to kill her, Thursday. She said she was able to get away but wanted a report on record.

Bad timing: A man was taken into custody after police responded to reports of a disturbance in the 1000 block of Wilson Avenue, Thursday. Police said the female involved refused to tell them what had taken place, telling them she was fine and didn’t need their help. The man, identified as Reginald Johnson, 21, 1019 Wilson Ave., was booked into the county jail anyway after police found he had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.

Watered down: A Commercial Avenue resident told police his downstairs neighbor had shut his water off and was refusing to turn it back on, Thursday. He said he has a baby and needs access to water. The downstairs neighbor said water was leaking into her residence. Police had the man turn off the water to his toilet, and had his downstairs neighbor turn his water back on. They were told to call the landlord to have the leaky line fixed.

Booked: Wal-Mart employees told police they caught a man trying to leave the store with more than $110 in meat he hadn’t paid for, Thursday. Sir Anthony Boston, 27, 525 Logan Ave., Mingo Junction, was booked on a petit theft charge.

Not how it works: Police were told two individuals who had rented items from a local business had “pawned, sold and not paid” for the merchandise, Thursday. Store personnel are forwarding rental agreements, receipts and inventories of the stolen items.

Booked: Mark J. Blancato, 45, 28 township Road 281, Steubenville, felony theft, Thursday. Police said they spotted Blancato entering a residence in the 400 block of South Sixth Street and served the warrant.

Unsightly: An officer responding to a litter complaint at 1517 Foster Place said he found “junk and litter” scattered about, with couches, recliner chairs, TV set and other junk in the back yard.

Code issue: A notice of violation was sent to the owner/occupants of a property at 730 Kendall Ave., upholstered furniture on the sidewalk.

Cited: William King, 39, 121 Grandview Ave., Mingo Junction, DUS and red-light violation; Ethel Legrand, 23, Beaver, W.Va., DUS; Jeffery T. Robinson, 53, 306 Fairview St., Apt. 6, Weirton, DUS.

Jefferson County Sheriff

SOS: An East Palestine man called 911 for help after he got lost at Yellow Creek Campground, Dec. 30. He told dispatchers he was coming from Salineville when he got lost around 11 p.m. “and being that it was now 5 a.m., he was out of gas and freezing.” Authorities were able to figure out he was near an area known as the Free Zone at the campground. When they got there, deputies said they found his Jeep Liberty stuck in a ditch several yards up a hill behind a road that had been barricaded and said it appeared he had “gotten lost and traveled from the Forbidden Zone all the way to the Free Zone,” but was not stuck. Saline Township Fire and EMS responded to assist the man, who at that point was having “some type of medical emergency.

Pilfered: A woman in the process of moving said a vehicle was stolen from her property in Springfield Township, Thursday. She said she’d been at her new residence and had just noticed the vehicle missing, along with two tires and rims from a Ford F-150 and an antique black pickup truck cab. The thieves also cut the lock on her storage unit and stole random household items and two space heaters, she said.

Better safe than sorry: A caller reported a man who appeared to be unresponsive at the Steubenville Park ‘n Ride, Thursday. Deputies said the man did appear to be sleeping, and didn’t respond when he was asked to identify himself or what he was doing there. Eventually he got out of the vehicle, telling officers he was fine and not sure why they were there. He said he was afraid they were going to hurt him, but they explained to him a caller had been concerned he was in medical distress. He told them his ex-girlfriend had kicked him out and he was now homeless. Family members told the Ohio State Highway Patrol they feared he wasn’t taking medication he was prescribed for a mental health issue, while the original caller told them she knows him and said he has “a drug problem,” so she thought he’d overdosed. TEMS transported him to the hospital for evaluation.

Behavior issues: A Richmond man told deputies a family member wasn’t allowing him in his house so he could get his belongings, Thursday. He was gone when deputies arrived, but the family member said he’d “been noticing items come up missing around his house” and had suspected the younger man, but only caught him stealing that day. He said they argued, and the younger man eventually gave him $300 and left so he was “good for today” and doesn’t want anything to happen to him, “but simply wants him to stop stealing from him.

Think before you do it: A Smithfield man called for help after began to feel sick while he was watching his young son because his wife was at work, Wednesday. He told ambulance personnel he’d smoked marijuana and then began feeling unwell. He was taken to the emergency room and a police hold was placed on him. His wife left work to go home to their child.

Break-up woes: An Amsterdam woman told deputies she and her boyfriend were in the process of breaking up after living together 20 years, and he came home from “a known drug house and was intoxicated and … yelling at her,” Monday. She said she’d initially called 911 because he was being verbally abusive, but she hadn’t meant to call back. She said she sat down and her phone accidentally redialed. She said her ex left the residence when she’d asked him to.

Cat fight: A Toronto woman was suspicious a neighbor with whom she’s had longstanding problems went in her back yard without her permission to retrieve her dog and possibly threw something at her house, Wednesday. She said the neighbor previously came on her property and broke a trap she’d put out to safely catch the woman’s cat, which comes in her yard and distresses her dogs. Police found no damage to the home and learned another neighbor had retrieved the woman’s dog for her.