A McDermott woman who phoned deputies for help in a domestic dispute ended up in handcuffs herself when officers discovered she had an outstanding warrant.
The call came in just after 9 a.m., with the woman reporting a physical fight with a man and claiming a gun was involved. She told dispatchers the weapon had been thrown into a trash can. When deputies arrived, they confirmed the firearm had not been used or threatened during the argument — it had simply been tossed aside.
The man involved had already left the scene, but the woman admitted she had struck him during the fight. That’s when deputies learned she had an open warrant through the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear in court.
Instead of leaving as the victim, she was arrested and taken to the Scioto County Jail.
Court records show the warrant goes back to April 2024, when she failed to show up for sentencing in a case involving driving under suspension. She was arraigned in Portsmouth Municipal Court, released on bond, and is scheduled for sentencing on November 18 in the driving case. A separate pretrial hearing will be set on the failure-to-appear charge.
Deputies say the weapon never played a role in the argument, but the woman’s past legal trouble did. In the end, the person who dialed for help was the only one booked into jail.