Portsmouth police handled several calls involving people asking customers for money, suspected drug use, trespassing, and another drug paraphernalia arrest at Tracy Park.
Officers were first called to Speedway on Gallia Street after an employee reported that a woman had been hanging around the gas pumps and asking people for money for the past couple of days.
The employee wanted her trespassed from the property.
Police made contact with the woman, and she signed a no-trespass form acknowledging that she understood she was barred from Speedway.
The next day, officers were called back to the same Speedway for a similar complaint.
This time, an employee reported a man in his 20s was asking customers for money and harassing them.
The caller also said the man appeared possibly impaired because he was walking around with his eyes closed.
Police responded and issued the man a no-trespass order from Speedway.
No arrests were listed in either Speedway call.
Drug Call at Tracy Park Ends in Arrest
Police also responded to Tracy Park after a caller reported two people doing drugs on the south side of the stage.
Officers took Billy Miller into custody on a charge of drug paraphernalia.
Miller lists a Williamsburg, Ohio, address but has had several recent cases in Portsmouth.
He was arrested on August 4 on another drug paraphernalia charge that was still open.
Miller was also convicted of criminal trespass in July and received a suspended fine.
After the latest arrest, Miller appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court and pleaded no contest to both open drug paraphernalia charges.
He was sentenced to three years of probation and received a suspended jail sentence.
The calls continue a familiar pattern for Portsmouth businesses and public spaces.
Employees call because people are hanging around asking customers for money.
Police issue trespass warnings.
Then officers are called to a park for suspected drug activity and deal with someone who has already been through court on similar charges.
For businesses and residents, the frustration is that the same types of calls keep coming back.
For police, it means another round of warnings, trespass forms, arrests, and court dates.
