Portsmouth Police responded to some strange calls over the weekend. It looks like the quarantine may be getting to some people. PPD Officers answered nearly 200 calls between April 3 and the morning of April 7.
Those included a burglar who left behind a wig and a note, a bicyclist who claimed to have found human bones, and a man who said he had the cure for Coronavirus. Sadly, they also responded to nearly a dozen ODs and a heartbreaking case of a father who fears 14-year-old is acting inappropriately with his little sister.
We’ve got the 12 highlights from Police Logs :
Catch And Release
- Just after 5 am on Friday, officers found a man on the sidewalk on Thomas Avenue. He was transported to the jail and then later released.
- Shortly after 8 am, officers were contacted by Ohio State Patrol. They’d stopped a woman with a probation bench warrant from Portsmouth Municipal Court. PMC Probation said to cut the woman loose and recalled the bench warrant.
- Police were called to Gay Street at 7:45 pm for a report of a man passed out in a van. He was slightly intoxicated and advised to sleep it off.
- Officers responded to reports of a shoplifter at the Kroger on Gay Street. The man was issued a summons to appear in Portsmouth Municipal Court and let go.
- Early Tuesday morning a man was running back and forth moaning outside the Woodbine Apartments. Officers told him to stay off the property.
Suspicious Persons
At 8:42 am on Friday, a woman called to report two strangers in her house on Campbell Avenue. When police arrived she appeared to be intoxicated. Other people who lived in the house said there were no strangers about.
Threats
A woman called police around 9:30 am on Friday to report that an ex-boyfriend was on his way from Columbus to her home and had threatened to shoot her. Police told her to call back if he shows up.
ODs
- At 10:35, officers responded to a home of Summit Street for a report of a woman who had overdosed. She was lying on the kitchen floor but breathing.
- Just before 7 pm officers responded to another OD on Wayne Avenue. The man was assisted by the fire department. He refused transport.
- Around 1 pm on Saturday, officers returned to Wayne Avenue for a report of a woman doing CPR on a man outside a building. They found suspected drugs on the man. He refused treatment.
- Shortly after 5, they were called back to the Royal Inn on Kendall Avenue for a suspected OD. The man refused treatment.
- Just after 10 pm, officers responded to Robinson Avenue for a report of an overdose. The man was alert by the time police arrived and refused treatment.
- Around 3 am on Sunday, officers responded to a report of an unresponsive man in the parking lot of the Woodbine Apartments.
- Just before 9 am, officers were called back to the Royal Inn on another report of a man overdosing. He was all right by the time they arrived.
- Police were called to Appalachian Wood Floors on Campbell Avenue around noon for a report of woman shooting up behind the building. She appeared to be all right when police arrived.
- Just after 11 pm, officers were called to Charles Street for a report of a woman overdosing. She was gone by the time police arrived.
- Police were called to Thomas Avenue just after 7 pm on Monday for reports of a women overdosing. She refused medical aid.
Cornered by Pit Bulls
Just before 2 pm on Friday, police responded to a call about 2 pit bulls running loose on Highland Avenue. A man said that the dogs had him cornered in his house. The dogs were returned to their owner.
Robbed at Needle Point
Just before 3 pm on Thursday a man reported that a woman held a needle to his neck and forced his girlfriend to hand over $900. Police took a report.
Strange visitors
- A bizarre call just after 4:30 pm Friday on Willow Way. Someone broke into a residence and left a wig, hair, and a towel on the floor. There was also a note that read, “Please forgive me. Scared of the virus. Had nowhere else to go.”
- Around 8 am on Saturday, officers were called to Alexandria House on Findlay street for a report of a woman in the basement who refused to leave. She’d scattered her belongings all over the place and refused to tell anyone who she was. By the time police arrived, she was gone.
- Officers were called to Campbell Avenue just after 7 for a report of a strange man found in a basement. Turns out he matched the description of the suspect who stole a car earlier in the day.
- A Grandview Avenue man reported on Monday afternoon that he caught a neighbor going through his father’s medicine cabinet. Police took a report.
He’s Got The Cure
A man called officers claiming initially to say that someone had taken money from his bank account to buy groceries. He rambled on for several minutes telling the officer that he had the cure for Coronavirus. The officer advised him to call back when he felt more like talking.
Bicyclist With Bones
A man on bicycle stopped by the Hilltop Fire Station to tell firefighters that he’d discovered human bones in the dumpster behind the Players Club on 17th Street.  He came back about half an hour later to drop off the bones. Fortunately, they belonged to an animal.
Not Practicing Social Distancing
Shortly before 9 pm on Friday, officers broke up a group of 12 people hanging out in the parking lot of the Oasis Convenient Mart on 17th Street
On Saturday, officers stopped a car full of people who were just out driving around to remind them that isn’t considered essential travel.
On Monday, officers had to remind a group of people at York Park after hours about the Governor’s stay-at-home order.
Children Need Help
- Shortly before 10 pm a child flagged down an officer saying a man was about to hang himself in a Summit Street Garage. The man was transported by ambulance to the hospital for evaluation.
- In an unrelated incident, just after midnight, a concerned parent called officers. He’d discovered his 14-year-old son had been acting inappropriately with his 8-year-old sister and wanted to know how he could get help without filing charges and taking his children through the court system. Officers advised speaking with a child psychologist.
Stabbed and TASERED
- A man was stabbed near the basketball court on 14th Street shortly before 11 pm on Saturday.
- Officer deployed a TASER around 5:30 am on Monday after a man took off running from them on Wayne Avenue.
