Portsmouth Police Officers removed a couple from a dangerous house on Williams Street. Police originally responded to a report of a domestic disturbance just after 11 am.
An officer heard someone screaming inside the house. Police knocked, but no one answered the door, so officers announced themselves and opened the unlocked front door.
When police saw a woman inside the home, they asked if she was all right. She told the officer she was practicing her screaming and that she was allowed to do so inside her house. However, she gave officers permission to check if anyone was in distress inside the home.
Police said several hypodermic syringes were visible in the house. They discovered the woman was heating the home with a kerosene heater and her skin was covered with black soot.
When officers determined the home had no heat or running water, they contacted Portsmouth Code Enforcement. The agency condemned the home and gave the residents three hours to vacate the premises.
Police gave the male resident a ride to the Lawrence County Line, where officers from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office picked him up. They issued a drug abuse instrument summons to the woman.
