Brooke County sheriff
Charged: Edward G. Vargo III, 47, 191 Old Washington Pike, Wellsburg, public intoxication, Thursday.
Charged: Aaron A. Tucker, 48, Lisbon, Ohio, driving while suspended, Thursday.
Mingo Junction Police
Property dispute: A woman told police on July 18 that she believed her swing set, sandbox and picnic table had been stolen. She said the three items were given to her by her neighbor, in addition to a trampoline that had not been moved. All items were on a piece of land the woman said she believed was “abandoned and owned by no one,” but she returned from a vacation to find the first three items gone and the land mowed. The woman said the items were taken by a man who police later met with. The man said he had purchased the property a week earlier with everything on it. He said he notified the neighbors to move their belongings multiple times, which did not occur, so he sold all items except for the trampoline. The man’s mother was able to show paperwork proving ownership of the land, and the man allowed the first woman to keep the trampoline.
Checkout theft: Police responded on July 18 to a theft that had already occurred at the Dollar General store at 100 Paps Lane. Surveillance footage showed a man at self-checkout with a full shopping cart, scanning some items and leaving others unscanned. He paid for the items he had scanned but left with the unpaid-for merchandise, including paper towels, shea butter baby wipes, disinfectant and dog treats, among other items.
Loud music: A man was advised by police on July 21 to turn his music down following a noise complaint. The man said he believes his “crazy father” was the one who had called with the complaint. Furthermore, he said his music is not that loud and not a disturbance to anyone. Police told him this is the second noise complaint called for the residence, and a third will result in a citation. Police said the man remained reluctant for a time but eventually turned down his music.
Dog issues On Wednesday, police advised a Mingo man that some of his neighbors have complained about his smaller dogs barking and acting viciously. The man told police the dogs are his girlfriend’s, and they are only at his residence when she is sleeping. Also, he said he leaves the dogs outside for long periods of time because they are not housebroken. When told by police that the dogs are scaring people and keeping them up, the man said he will fix the house’s fence once he gets paid so that the dogs are not as close to surrounding houses, and he will try to bring the dogs inside as soon as possible.
How rude: Police spoke with a woman who said she has been receiving rude messages from a man in Columbus. The woman showed police the messages in which the man insulted her and told her to kill herself. Police told the woman to block the man and to seek a no-contact order.e if she feels she needs it. Also, police said, if the man messages her again, to tell police.
Charged: James Lathem, 57, 211 Grandview Ave., speeding, July 19; Michael Brown, 51, 292 Belvedere Drive, Bloomingdale, stop sign violation, July 20; Justin Ryan Gilliam, 32, 100 Granitor Ave., three counts of menacing, July 21; John Raymond Jr., 50, 5135 County Road 74, theft, Friday.
Jefferson County Sheriff
Gone too far: A woman complained that a dog in Bloomingdale wasn’t properly taken care of and didn’t like it when a deputy told her the humane agent had already been to the home and determined the dog is well cared for, Thursday. The woman claimed the dog was being left outside without proper shelter, food or water and insisted she had video proving the humane officer wrong. Moments after that call ended the homeowners were on the phone to report a woman in a white Kia has been driving past their home almost daily since the humane officer’s visit, “yelling and making constant threats” and had started damaging their property. They said the woman screamed and said they have video of her throwing “several heavy rocks at the windshield and the hood of their vehicle” parked outside their home. Deputies took the opportunity to reinspect the dog’s living conditions and said he has more than one box, food and water.
Bad guest: Two women checking on a family member’s home in Rayland while she’s in the hospital told deputies they discovered a woman inside smoking and asked deputies to remove her from the property, July 23. They said they’d tried to get her to leave but she refused until she realized they’d called the sheriff’s department. Deputies checking the house discovered holes she’d made in the wall with a baseball bat, broken chairs and a broken stove top. The intruder once dated the homeowner’s son.
Ongoing problems: A Bloomingdale woman who has a protection order against her neighbor said he parked his vehicle on their property line “and was playing loud music and recording her” and two family members, Thursday. She said the order states he must stay 300 feet from the property line unless he’s cutting grass, wood or doing other yard work. She said he turned the music down and hid in the bushes at the property line when he spotted the deputy, and told the officer her neighbor had “shouted obscenities to her and her family, and feared what he may do next.” Deputies attempted to speak with him, but he wouldn’t answer the door.
Goat-napping: A Bloomingdale woman said someone stole her pet goat from her fenced-in yard Wednesday afternoon and returned it seven hours later. She said she had video of a dark sedan stopping at her home, a person jumping out with the goat and returning it to her fenced-in yard but didn’t recognize them or the car.
Booked: Brock J. Fuller, 33, 400 Third St., Apt. 19, Stratton, warrant for failure to appear, Thursday.
Steubenville Police
Spiraling: A homeless woman was booked into the Jefferson County jail after she allegedly threatened a volunteer at the Friendship Room, Thursday. April Stanley, 48, no fixed address, was charged with menacing after the volunteer reported Stanley “threatened to kill her” and two witnesses confirmed they’d heard the threats being made.
Drunk: Callers told police a man was laying on the ground under a vehicle in the 200 block of South Hollywood Boulevard “yelling for help,” Thursday. Police found the man, who turned out “to be very intoxicated and even admitted to consuming alcohol” earlier in the day. He was taken to Trinity Medical Center West for medical evaluation “due to his level of intoxication,” police said.
Underage: Witnesses said a child was trying to drive a car that sideswiped another vehicle and nearly struck the rear of a building in the 900 block of Sherman Avenue, Thursday. Police said the child was “highly upset” but uninjured and was stuck in the car, which came to rest on the sidewalk. The child’s mother said she was in her residence and walked outside to tell him to come in “but he didn’t listen.” She said she didn’t know the child had her car keys, nor was she aware he knew how to start the vehicle and put it into drive.
Someone’s fibbing: A woman claimed another mother was violating an order protecting for her and her son, Thursday. Both women have sons playing football so they’re both at the field for practices. She told police the other mother “has initiated contact with her and her son for (about) four days and will not stop harassing them” and pushed her into a fence and said she thinks the other mother is trying to get her son kicked off the team. The other mother said she hasn’t left the sidewalk area and has had no contact with the caller nor has she spoken to her. A bystander told police she “does not go anywhere near” the caller and has not contacted her in any way.
Drugs: Police attempting to take a man into custody on warrants allegedly caught him with drug paraphernalia in his pockets, Thursday. Roman R. Longo, 37, 256 Jewett Road, Steubenville, was served with two outstanding warrants for trafficking in drugs and police tacked on charges of possession of a drug abuse instrument, a crack pipe, and possession of drug paraphernalia, two hypodermic needles.
No help: A woman in the 400 block of South Fourth Street wanted a man to leave her property, but when police got there, she refused to talk to them, Thursday. Police said the woman “yelled from a second-story window.” The male ended up leaving the scene on foot.
Feeling threatened: A Lovers Lane resident reported receiving harassing and threatening calls and texts, but police said the text he showed them wasn’t threatening, Thursday. He told police he’d try to retrieve other messages from an iCloud account. He said the person harassing him accused him of calling Child Protective Services on a mutual friend.
Dog fight: A Lawson Avenue resident said two dogs at large, one of them a Rottweiler, attacked his dogs in his own backyard, Thursday. He said he was able to get the attacking dogs off them, but his dogs were injured in the process and would have to go to the vet. Police were unable to locate the attacking dogs.
Booked: Breonna N. Williams, 31, 1418 Pennsylvania Ave., Steubenville, warrants for petty theft and a probation violation, Thursday.
Served: Bruce A. Riley, 24, Lincoln Ave., Steubenville, unauthorized transaction in weapons, Thursday; Stern Johnson, 72, 1282 Walker Road, bench warrant out of Belmont County for failure to appear, Thursday.
Code issues: A notice of violation was sent to the owners/occupants of a property at 232 Harvard Ave, high grass/weeds. Also, notice was posted on the front door of a property at 1524 Oregon Ave., garbage piled in the back yard. Police attempted to speak with the residents and heard them inside, but no one would answer the door, so a litter notice was taped to the door.
Cited: Chari Bills, 31, 220 Sharon Drive, Weirton, and Owen S. Provost, 18, 193 Highland Park, Bloomingdale, both for speeding; Michael David Meto, 58, Park Street, Steubenville, improper backing. Meto was cited after he allegedly backed into a vehicle parked in the 400 block of Market Street.
