Steubenville Police

Facing charges: A city resident who employees said fled Kroger with merchandise he didn’t pay for was taken into custody after employees told police they saw him come back in the store, Wednesday. Police said they were in the store gathering information on the original report when employees reported seeing the same man re-enter the store on the pharmacy side. John M. Lame, 44, 732 N. Sixth St., was charged with petit theft after police said they were watching on surveillance video as he allegedly was “filling up his cart with them and then … placing (them) in old Kroger bags” before exiting the property, but when he saw an officer waiting for him outside the pharmacy doors they said he “immediately turned around and walked back into the store, placed the … bags on the floor” and fled toward the back of the store. Total value of the merchandise in question was nearly $331, police said. In addition to theft, Lame was charged with conveyance of drugs after correctional officers at the county jail reported finding a plastic bag in one of his pockets containing five pills. Lame said the pills were suboxone and had been prescribed to him.

Differing accounts: A man reported being assaulted in the 200 block of South Eighth Street, Wednesday. He told police he was with a female friend “when her boyfriend came home and attacked him.” He said the male “jumped on him and choked him,” but he was not injured though he lost his phone during the altercation. Police said the boyfriend told them he “came home and found (the other man) with his girlfriend” and they argued, but it never turned physical and he “denied choking him.” The female allowed him to get his things but the cell phone was not located.

Cut and run: A man detained by loss prevention employees at Wal-Mart “turned over” a $30 battery charge he’d concealed in his clothes then ran out of the store, Wednesday. He fled the property in a green S-10.

Money moved: A city resident told police he and his wife were in the middle of a divorce and he found out she’d gotten the bank to transfer the money from two accounts that were in his name only into a joint account, which she then drained, Wednesday. He said she withdrew “the entire amount equaling close to $36,000.” Since he owns his own business and is not yet legally separated, police told him he’d have to take her to court.

Chain reaction: A three-car accident at the intersection of Brady and Ridge avenues sent a driver to the hospital complaining of head and foot injuries, Wednesday. Police said Jasmine L. Owens, 33, 1430 Sinclair Ave., Steubenville, was cited for assured clear distance ahead after she told them she didn’t see the vehicles in front of her stopped in traffic because a driver was attempting a left onto Ridge. They said Owens’ vehicle suffered disabling front-end damage.