Portsmouth, Ohio police went on a towing spree, hooking up vehicles right and left. Plus officers went in search of one-shoed suspect and a dog took care of an intruder. We break down the highlights from the Portsmouth Police Chief’s Briefing.
1. Towed Away
- Just after 7 am, officers arranged for three vehicles parked on Thomas Avenue to be towed. One had flat tires and the other two had been sitting there for a long time.
- Nearby on Kendall Avenue, police found a vehicle blocking the fire hydrant at 7:39 am. Police cited the same vehicle for the same issue back in August. Officers arranged for the vehicle to be towed.
- Police arranged for three more cars to be towed away just after 11 am on Mound Street. Police cited a Jeep Liberty parked so long there were piles of leaves around it. They also noted two vans with the same tag. The VIN did not match one of the vans and officers wrote a citation for fictious tags. The owner of a third vehicle could not produce a key.
- At 3:40 pm, the owner of the van turned up at the impound lot to check insider her fan for the proper tags. Police said she offered several stories as to why the vehicle should not have been impounded and was very angry at officers.
2. 911 Hang-up
Just before 8 am, a caller to 911 yelled “No!” on the line and hung up. No one answered on call back. Officers tracked the call to a location on Kinney’s Lane.
A man explained his kids found his girlfriend’s phone and were playing with it. Officers advised him to tell the kids not to do that.
3. Meanwhile at Speedway
A traffic stop at the Speedway on Gallia turned up a driver with two active warrants. One through Scioto County and the other from Franklin County. Officers arrested the man for Franklin County and once he was at the Scioto County Jail, he was served with a child support warrant and summons.
4. Under The Influence
- Officers responded to an overdose on Wayne Avenue just after 1 pm. The patient refused treatment.
- Just before 10:30 pm, officers responded to Rally’s for a report of an apparently high woman throwing trash everywhere and acting strangely. The woman and a male companion allowed officers to search the vehicle. She said she was simply acting silly to entertain her daughter. Police advised both adults in the vehicle about driving under suspension.
5. Dog Takes Care Of Intruder
A Gallia Street man called police at 3:44 pm to report he woke up to discover a stranger on his porch attempting to gain access into his home.
The man said his dog took care of the guy and he believes the issue may have been drug-related.
6. Dish Soap In The Tank
Just before 5 pm, a Mound Street caller told police tags were stolen from her vehicle and someone had poured dish soap into her transmission fluid.
Officers said they’d check the impound for her tags. The woman also said it appeared someone was sleeping in the van.
7. I Found It In The Trash
Officers stopped a man carrying a flat-screen TV in the alley between High and Mound Streets at 6:14 pm. The man told police he found the TV in a dumpster near 17th Street.
8. One-Shoed Suspect
Officers answered a call to Aldi Foods for a report that a man pushed a woman into a car and hit her.
She said the man wore a hoodie, and only had one shoe. His most notable feature was a bright pink sock. He took off in the direction of Speedway.
9. Flipping Out
A local rehab center reported an out-of-control resident to police at 7:04 pm. Employees said he flipped a TV over, threw a tray at a nurse, and began destroying things.
The man is a recent stroke patient that staff cannot control. Officers removed him from the facility and transported him to SOMC for evaluation.
10. Weird Traffic Accident
A traffic accident at 4th and Offnere took a strange twist at 7:32 pm. A man told police his wife got into a wreck and the other driver was acting weird and asking for money.
Officers discovered there was a warrant for the man’s arrest. They transported him to the Scioto County Jail and arranged for his vehicle to be towed.
11. Grand Theft Auto
Just before midnight, a woman reported that her boyfriend’s son took her car and refused to give it back. She said the vehicle was parked at the boy’s grandmother’s house in South Solon, Ohio. Also, there is a broken key in the ignition.
The boy called in to dispatch later. He said he agreed to purchase the vehicle from his father. According to him, the vehicle was supposed to stay in the girlfriend’s name until he paid it off. She requested the vehicle back. He was unwilling to return the vehicle unless she returned the money he’d put down towards purchase.
The woman told police none of that happened. Officers contacted the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office to ask them to check to see if the vehicle was indeed in the grandmother’s driveway.
