A strange call involving a lost purse ended with a woman going to jail for damaging items in the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office lobby.
Portsmouth police were called to the area of 12th and Gay streets after the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were out with a woman who had damaged items in the sheriff’s department lobby earlier in the day.
Deputies said dispatch had advised them that Portsmouth police were looking for the woman.
As it turned out, Portsmouth police were not trying to arrest her. They had found her lost purse and were trying to return it.
Police offered the purse back to the woman, but she refused to take it.
However, the sheriff’s office arrested Linda Parker on a criminal mischief charge in connection with the lobby damage.
Parker appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court and pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with 59 days suspended, and placed on two years of probation.
Court records show Parker had also been charged with criminal mischief on July 22 and criminal trespass on July 7. Those charges were wrapped into her recent plea agreement.
Parker was also convicted of disorderly conduct last September.
Court records show previous arrests in 2023 involving felonious assault, criminal damaging, littering, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, petty theft, and persistent disorderly conduct.
Charges in 2022 included criminal trespass, inducing panic, false alarm, and persistent disorderly conduct.
The latest case started with officers trying to return a purse, but ended with a guilty plea, jail time, and probation.