Web cam lets mom keep an eye on Canfield home

By Ed Runyan

Knocking on a door, phone calls, breaking glass and knocking in a door did not wake one of the teens.

CANFIELD — Big brother has a sister, and she’s watching.

A Canfield woman staying in Florida discovered that her 18-year-old daughter couldn’t be trusted at home alone, and the daughter learned her mom is serious when she says, “No boys in the house.”

Canfield police received a 3:12 a.m. Saturday call from the mom, saying she was looking at the inside of her Oak Tree Drive home by means of a Web cam. She told police that she could see at least one male was inside the house.

A Web cam is a camera that gathers video images that can be viewed on a computer in another location.

The police report of the episode was made public Tuesday. It states:

The mom told police her daughter was not allowed to have any visitors. She asked police to go to the house immediately and remove anyone who didn’t belong there.

Two police officers went but got no response when they knocked on the door. They also tried to contact the house by telephone without success.

Finally the officers contacted the mother by telephone. She wanted officers to force their way in. Officers called on firefighters from the Cardinal Joint Fire District in Canfield to help, but they were “unable to make entry,” so the mother suggested officers break a garage window.

An officer used his night stick, broke the window and kicked in the basement door to enter the house.

The only people inside were the daughter and a 19-year-old male, both in a second-story bedroom. He was still asleep until officers awoke him.

On the kitchen countertop was part of a marijuana pipe containing suspected marijuana residue. Officers also spotted a pipe in a vehicle in the driveway, rolling papers on the floor of the vehicle and three plastic bags containing suspected marijuana in the car.

The girl confessed that she used the pipe found in the car to smoke marijuana, the police report continues. Later at the police station, the girl admitted owning the pipe and the marijuana found in the car.

The girl and 19-year-old male are charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor of drug paraphernalia, and the male was charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor of criminal trespass.

The two were assigned a court date in Canfield Mayor’s Court and released. If convicted of the charges, they could face up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.

runyan@vindy.com