Jefferson County Sheriff

Injured child: Deputies report two children riding electric scooters in Dillonvale were struck by a car, but the driver and a bystander both said the kids ran a stop sign and ended up hitting the driver’s side fender, Tuesday. The kids were gone when deputies arrived and the driver reported their father came and scooped them up, along with the scooters, and refused to give her a name even though she pleaded with him to tell her. Bystanders told them his name, and after deputies alerted area hospitals to be on the lookout for an injured child they were able to verify the boys’ identity. Deputies said bystanders verified the drivers’ account that three kids on scooters had been circling the drug store before running the stop sign. The witnesses said two of the boys slammed their scooters into the car, but only one of them ended up on the hood of the vehicle before falling in front of the car. They also said both boys popped up and started running down the alley before the father came and collected them and their scooters.

There’s a reason he’s an ex: A caller who days earlier had pretended to be someone else and falsely reported a child had been taken from his home was at it again, this time portraying himself as a woman “claiming to have been kidnapped and being held against her will,” Sunday. Deputies were able to locate the address the caller directed them to and discovered the same woman whose home they’d been to because of the earlier report. She told them it was most likely her ex-boyfriend who had been “causing nothing but issues for her.” She said he’s been spoofing phone numbers through a mobile app “to both constantly harass her, as well as use them to call (the sheriff’s office) and report serious incidents that are not even occurring at her residence.”

Cashed out: A woman in Texas tried to cash a check for $4,150 on a Wintersville business bank account, Monday. Payment was stopped once an employee verified the check number in question had already been issued to a vendor in Texas and that the woman trying to cash the check was in no way affiliated with the vendor. The bank was able to reverse the transaction and return the money to the business’s account, but since then the employee reports she’s found two more fraudulent checks in the queue to be processed.

Alarmed: A Rayland resident reported several suspicious vehicles in her driveway, Wednesday. Deputies located the owners, who said they were parking in her driveway due to the rising water.

Freed: A Uniontown, Pa., man was trapped in his car after a rollover accident on state Route 43, Bloomingdale, Tuesday. A deputy extricated him from the vehicle with his halligan bar. No further details were available.

Out of it: Deputies said they found a driver slumped over the steering wheel of his Chevy Silverado in the middle of a Tiltonsville street with his foot on the brake and the vehicle in drive, Wednesday. After stirring him, they reported seeing a crack pipe on the floorboards but allege that after he got out of the truck, he admitted trying to toss it on the ground. They said he told them he buys crack from a Wheeling dealer but there was none in the car, though when the vehicle was searched deputies reported finding what is believed to be crack rocks and another crack rock. He showed no signs of impairment, so police confiscated the contraband and forwarded the report to the prosecutor’s office for consideration.

Strange request: A Powell’s Lane resident said a man showed up on his doorstep and said he wanted a gun permit, Friday. Through his doorbell camera the homeowner said he told the man it’s a private home and they don’t issue gun permits, but the man said he’d been directed to their house. He drove away, but the homeowner sent deputies footage of the interaction. Deputies said the man was “making all kind of noise while standing by the door, like he was tweaking.”

Served: Frank Wayne Lukacena, 69, 1231 township Road 213, Bloomingdale, warrant for violating a protection order, March 30; Rojak A. Matyas, 1259 Bantam Ridge Road, Wintersville, warrant for failing to appear for probation review, March 30.

Steubenville Police

Three women were taken into custody after police found more than $600 in merchandise allegedly stolen from Walmart in their possession, Tuesday. Police charged Ashley Tharp, 29; Kelsey Henry, 22; and Caitlyn Long, 24, all of 801 Oakmont Ave., Steubenville, with misdemeanor theft. Employees allege the trio fled the store with three black bags filled with cat food, jewelry, clothing and other items that they hadn’t paid for.

Charged: Joshua W. Coffman, 41, 307 Union Ave., Steubenville, was charged with misdemeanor theft after Wal-Mart employees allege he concealed merchandise and tried to leave without paying for it, Monday. Coffman allegedly had clothes, pepper spray and beverages valued at just over $129 that he hadn’t paid for, police said.

Purloined: A man in the 100 block of North Fourth Street said someone stole his backpack from the building lobby, Monday. He said it had his personal papers as well as vapes, a pocketknife and his wallet.

Booked: April Stanley, 48, 2935 Kings Creek Road, Weirton, failure to appear, Monday.

Cited: Pamela J. Bauman, 59, 220 Woodridge Drive, Wintersville, prohibited left turn at the intersection of Bryden Road and Sunset Boulevard; Madaya Brown, 20, 756 ½ Commercial St., Mingo Junction, speeding.