Steubenville Police

Nabbed: A woman who allegedly walked away from the hospital recently despite being told she was not free to leave was spotted trying to hide in a car, Sunday. Police said Joni Hython, 40, 411 Henry Ave., was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on charges of felony escape, obstruction and contempt of court, and the driver of the car she was in, Thomas R. Welling, 28, 410 Maxwell Ave., Steubenville, was cited for fleeing to elude and obstructing justice. They were spotted in the 1400 block of Plum Street. Police said as the vehicle she was in passed, they could see Hython “attempting to hide her face and lay down in the front seat.” They allege Welling failed to signal a left turn and then ignored their efforts to get him to pull over, and when he finally came to a stop in the 1300 block of Park Street (rear) they claim Hython jumped out and tried to flee on foot toward Oakmont Avenue but was “quickly apprehended.” Welling was charged with obstruction because he “failed to stop, knowing that (the officer’s) emergency lights were on,” police said. Police said Hython “openly admitted” that Welling knew she had an outstanding felony warrant.

Bumpy ride: The occupants of a car that got off track in a car wash were uninjured, but police said their vehicle sustained “significant damage to the hood … as well as windshield,” Sunday. The hood had a large deep dent and the windshield shattered, they said. The occupants said the vehicle was moving along on the car wash track when the wheel began to turn before the vehicle “jolted,” shaking violently.

Sucker-punched: A man in the 100 block of North Fourth Street was left with a bloody lip and swollen eye after an altercation with another man, Sunday. The other man claimed self-defense, telling police he saw the caller push a woman and “got into (his) face, yelling at him” and when he turned to walk away the caller “punched him from behind” so he fought back.

Mystery match: A man said he was “jumped by all the individuals in Veterans Park,” Sunday. He declined medical attention and two men police spoke with in the park said they did not see anything out of the ordinary.

Busted up: Someone driving through the YMCA parking lot spotted the windows broken out of a Prime Time delivery van, Sunday. The windshield, driver’s side windows and both rear hatch windows were broken, police said. A windshield wiper also was damaged.

Squabble: A Sinclair Avenue resident said she and her stepdaughter were arguing and the disagreement turned physical, Sunday. She said her stepdaughter started fighting her and left a scratch on her left arm before fleeing the area. She is no longer permitted to be at the residence.

Waders: A Wildon Avenue resident said someone climbed into her fish pond and emptied another small fish pond of most of its water, Sunday. The homeowner showed police video of the teenager climbing in one of the ponds, along with a solar light and a sock the miscreant left behind.

Recovered: An individual whose gym bag was stolen from a school in Pittsburgh traced it to a Pennsylvania Avenue location, Saturday. He said the bag contained his phone, shoes, a Pitt football, a bank card, two shirts and about $100 in cash, but he was able to track the phone and when he spoke with the homeowner, reports she was able to find his phone and return it, minus one shirt and the cash, but said the missing bag wasn’t there. Police said she “made some calls” and eventually some of her son’s friends returned his gym bag as well as another whose owner has yet to be identified. That bag, which contained football shoes, shirts, football gloves and some jewelry, is at the police station.

Tumbled: A Lincoln Avenue resident told police sometime during the past week a vacant property she owns received heavy damage to the front porch, Sunday. Police said block walls were knocked under the porch.

Harassment: A Lovers Lane resident said someone pulled the ornamental lights out of her bushes, Sunday. She said neighbor’s kids with whom she’s tangled previously were playing there and a 14-year-old had also threatened her, but she didn’t see it happen. Another neighbor came home and told her the lights were on the ground.

Scared them: A State Street resident said a man wearing an eye patch threatened her kids when they were playing in the street, Sunday. Police said it was hard to hear what was said on the Ring doorbell footage she gave them “due to the commotion.”

Drugs: Police were asked to check on the welfare of a woman near the 600 block of Lincoln Avenue, Sunday. Police said she seemed to be under the influence of drugs, so they contacted EMS. They found a broken pipe and a needle in her backpack and said the woman admitted to using narcotics he previous day.

Booked: Dylan J.K. McElroy, 26, 255 S. Fifth St. (rear), Steubenville, two bench warrants, Sunday.

Cited: Raymond Jeter, 30, 1419 Orchard Ave., Steubenville, expired registration and no operator’s license.

Jefferson County Sheriff

That makes it better: An Empire resident said his neighbor “threatened to slash his tires,” referred to him using an offensive term and called his son a pedophile during an argument over a shared property line, Sunday. A witness confirmed his account but told deputies the neighbor wasn’t talking directly to the caller but, rather, was dictating into his phone when he used the derogatory term. The neighbor said it was true, but said the caller is mad because he is purchasing the land and won’t move his truck. He also acknowledged some of the texts he’s sent might be construed as threatening and said he would stop sending them, and all involved agreed they don’t want to pursue charges.

Dog problem: A resident living on Springfield Township Road, Bloomingdale, said his neighbor’s dog was killing his chickens, approached him “aggressively” while he was feeding his pigs and had been causing problems for other neighbors with animals, Sunday. Another man said the woman who owns the dog said someone else had let her dog loose and it was not her fault, and when he told her other people’s animals had been killed claims she told him “they needed to pen their animals” and ordered him off her property. Deputies said the woman eventually contacted them and said her puppy did get loose and she is trying to keep him penned up but claimed one of the neighbor’s “began shouting at her and reportedly said they would give her $100 to chain her dog up and let them shoot it.” She also claimed neighbors “chased her dog down the road in their vehicles and…had shot at her dog, toward her house.” Deputies told her they’d prefer to resolve the dispute “as peacefully as possible.” She was advised of state rules regarding dogs to be “confined or restrained” at all times and deputies said she offered to pay for the chickens.

Run fast, run far: A Maplewood Drive resident alleges his girlfriend assaulted him when she came home after a day out and told deputies he thought she’d used drugs, Sunday. He told deputies she came in “aggressive and started cussing (him) and calling him” derogatory names, and said when he went upstairs she slapped him, grabbed his hands and tried to pour bathroom cleaner and alcohol in his eyes. Deputies said she told them when she came home from work they started arguing because he’d “accused her of something” and claimed her boyfriend “pushed her to the ground and held her down,” and said when she got up she used the vacuum for self-defense, but her boyfriend showed them a recording of her “coming out of the bathroom and going after (him) as if she were going to attack him, and then threw a blanket on him and he thought she was going to attack. Because he had scratch marks and a video, deputies said they booked Ashley Marie Aguilera, 33, 5 Maplewood Drive, Apt. 6, Steubenville, into jail on a domestic violence charge.

More trouble: A Tiltonsville man picked up an additional charge when deputies tried to serve him with a Belmont County warrant, Sunday. A resisting arrest charge is pending against Jacob Ewen, 32, 510 Walden Ave., Apt. B, Tiltonsville, who deputies allege was “drunk and screaming” when they entered the home after a passerby reported hearing “a loud argument.” They claim he was uncooperative, ordering them out of the house and tried to pull away from the arresting officers.

Hedging his bets: A Weirton man said he was having trouble getting his niece to return a shop vac and hedge trimmer she borrowed from him more than a month ago, Friday. He said he decided to go get them, but no one came to the door.

Crank calls: A Martins Ferry woman reported receiving threatening phone calls and texts, Sunday. Deputies said she didn’t know who was harassing her so they advised her to ignore all anonymous calls and texts.

Smacked: A Toronto woman was concerned when she picked her kids up from a stay with their father and saw one of them had markings allegedly left by being smacked with a wooden spoon, Saturday. The kids told her their dad’s new girlfriend did it “because they were yelling.”

Wandered off: A woman panicked when she couldn’t find her 3-year-old, Sunday. Before deputies arrived she found the child on her back porch, hiding.