Three people ended up under arrest on serious charges after a chance meeting with Avalon Police on Sept. 14.

An Avalon Police officer leaving a Route 65 restaurant observed what appeared to be a disabled vehicle on the highway, with another car behind it and a third vehicle stopped in the opposite lane of traffic. Police say that a man standing at the window of the disabled vehicle handed something to the driver of the third vehicle, which then drove off towards Bellevue.

The driver of the disabled car -- Jeffrey Loeffler, 24, of Pittsburgh -- was charged with possession of a controlled substance after he dropped several stamp bags of suspected heroin while being questioned by police.

The man standing by his window -- Jeffrey Thornton, 28, of Thelma Street, North Side -- was allowed to leave the scene without his vehicle after police determined he did not have a driver’s license. Once he was gone, however, Loeffler told police that Thornton had pointed a handgun at him, and the gun had been passed off to Thornton’s girlfriend -- Rachel Cornelius, 24, of Redwood Court, Ross -- who had been driving the third vehicle.

Cornelius and her vehicle had been stopped by Bellevue Police prior to Loeffler’s report about the gun. Bellevue Police had released Cornelius and told her not to drive after finding that she had a suspended driver’s license. Cornelius apparently disregarded those instructions, however, because her vehicle was stopped coming back into Avalon, and she was arrested after the gun and ammunition were found in the car.

Cornelius was charged with possessing a handgun without a license, while Thornton was charged with aggravated assault.

In other news from Avalon Police, a Ben Avon man was arrested after he apparently broke into a vehicle parked on South Ohio Street on Sept. 6.

Police were called by the car’s owner, who said that her boyfriend was chasing a man found sitting in the car. Police caught up with Paul Nolder, 47, of Church Avenue, who matched the description given by the victim. A necklace that had been stolen from the car was found in the back seat of the police car after Nolder had been removed.

A watch, cash and two briefcases were reported stolen from vehicles parked in the driveway of a Valleyview Drive home on Sept. 4.

The bottom half of the back seat of a car parked at Dominic Motors on Route 65 was reported stolen on Sept. 8.

Tyrone Whitehead, 51, of South Birmigham Avenue, was charged with simple assault during a domestic at his home on Sept. 8.

Michael Hopf, 34, and Lisa Kaiser, 34, were charged with disorderly conduct after a domestic at their home on Sept. 12.

Two women were charged with theft of items valued at more than $200 from the Red, White & Blue Thrift Store on Route 65. Arrested were Grace McLaughlin, 21, and Barbara Sanner, 39, both of Brighton Heights.