Today’s birthday

April 17

Andrea Claus, Brilliant

Police Beat

STEUBENVILLE

Not his first rodeo: A Spring Avenue resident reported someone was “tied up in the basement of an abandoned building” Monday in the 200 block of S. 4th Street. Police said he “was intoxicated and left the area,” but they checked a number of abandoned properties anyway and didn’t find anyone in distress. He’d made a similar complaint earlier in the week at the same location.

Drugs: Police responding to reports of a male in distress in a restroom at the mall Monday said he was “banging his head against the wall” and making concerning statements. He told them he’d “swallowed an ‘8-ball’ of crack and needed help.” He wasn’t carrying identification and was slipping in and out of consciousness so he couldn’t even tell them his name. He was taken to the hospital.

Changing on the fly: A man walked into the downtown fire station with “a small cut on his head that was not bleeding” Monday. He initially told police someone had hit him with a gun, but then said he’d been punched. He said he’d been at a house with people he thought were friends before he got hit, but couldn’t identify or describe the assailant. He declined medical treatment, then changed his mind and asked to be taken to the hospital.

Ding, dong, ditched: A McCauslen Manor resident complained that a group of kids were pounding on doors Monday and then ran off toward Eve Drive.

Screaming match: Callers reported hearing a mother and daughter fighting in the 400 block of Maxwell Avenue Monday. The younger woman said her mother “had been a bad mood all day” and they started arguing “over feeding her little sister strawberries” that “escalated to a screaming match.” Mom wanted her older daughter removed but police told her she resided there and would have to be evicted.

Shadow boxing: Neighbors in the 2400 block of Alexander Manor East were throwing punches Wednesday. A man with “obvious injuries” on his face told police he’d fought a neighbor “but wasn’t worried about it.” He said the neighbor “walked over to him, flicked a cigarette at him and (they) started fighting” and said the problems stem from the man “sending inappropriate pictures to his wife.” The other man said they’d argued at Walmart the night before and that day had “tried swinging at him so he defended himself.” Neither wanted to pursue charges.

Story hour: A woman said she and a friend were “driving around” Tuesday when a male “began shooting the vehicle” with an Orbeez gun and she was hit in the face. She had a welt and told police she wanted to pursue charges. The male wasn’t home when police went to talk with him but a family member advised the two women had been following him “for an extended period of time” before the alleged incident.

Booked: Ricki L. Britton, 41, 180 N. 4th St., Apt. 703, Steubenville, failure to appear, Tuesday. Britton also was cited for driving under suspension; Joshua W. Cofman, 43, 307 Union Ave., Steubenville, misdemeanor theft and contempt of court, Wednesday.

Code issues: Notices of violation were sent to owners/occupants of properties at 516 Woodland Ave., 634 Oakmont Ave., and 504 Woodland, all for high grass/weeds. Also: 541 Lincoln Blvd., high grass/weeds, garbage in front yard; 507 Lincoln Blvd., garbage bags piled on back deck, “pile of junk in the side yard and an outdoor shed with no door packed full of litter and junk”; a fire-damaged property at 303 S. 4th St., mattresses and junk in side yard; 3825 Bristol Ave., large pile of litter behind residence; 541 Woodland, mattresses and junk in back yard.

Cited: Carmen Burdette, 74, 4101 Wells St., Weirton, and Kelly A. Kalivoda, 40, 1247 Pennsylvania Ave., Steubenville, both for speeding (school zone). Also, the owners of three vehicles obstructing traffic in the 1100 block of Arlington Avenue were cited for parking in a restricted area.