A chaotic situation on Washington Street ended with an arrest after a woman caused a disturbance that spilled into a local business parking lot.
Police were called after reports of a woman walking back and forth in the roadway, yelling and pulling her pants down.
By the time officers arrived, the situation had moved over to Kroger.
An employee told police the woman—identified as Tracy Castle—was in the parking lot acting aggressively and trying to get into the store. There was just one problem: she had already been barred from the property.
Officers took Castle into custody and charged her with criminal trespassing.
She was booked into the Scioto County Jail.
⚖️ IN AND RIGHT BACK OUT
Castle, who lists her address as homeless, later appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court and was released on her own recognizance—meaning no bond was required.
And this isn’t her first run-in.
Court records show multiple previous arrests for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Records also show she was evicted from her home earlier this year in February.
💡 THE HARD TRUTH BEHIND CALLS LIKE THIS
This is one of those calls that’s about more than just one bad moment.
You’ve got:
- Repeated arrests
- No stable place to live
- Behavior that keeps escalating
And the system often cycles the same way—arrest, release, repeat.
For businesses like Kroger, it becomes a safety issue.
For officers, it’s a balancing act.
And for the person at the center of it all, it’s a situation that usually doesn’t fix itself without deeper help.