A disturbance at Kroger involving an allegedly intoxicated man trying to get into another person’s car turned into a wandering series of calls that stretched across downtown Portsmouth and ended with an arrest.
Police were first called to Kroger shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday after witnesses reported a man trying to get into another man’s vehicle.
The other driver left before officers arrived.
Witnesses told police the man causing the disturbance appeared intoxicated and had threatened the other man.
Officers searched south and west of Kroger, including several side streets, but initially could not find him.
Then the maroon vehicle connected to the call came back.
A woman told officers she had taken the man to a crisis center.
That did not end the situation.
Then Came Another Call
A short time later, police were called to the area of 3rd and Brown after a man reportedly refused to go with Portsmouth Ambulance.
The caller said the man had psychosis and claimed he had weapons.
Officers eventually located him near 3rd and Glover.
Police determined it was the same man from the Kroger disturbance.
He was given a disorderly conduct warning and left the property.
But the calls kept coming.
Police also connected him to another disturbance call at Stepping Stones.
By the end of the day, officers arrested Johnathan Harris on a charge of disorderly conduct and booked him into the Scioto County Jail.
Harris, who court records list as homeless, later appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court and pleaded guilty.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, suspended, and probation, then released.
So in the span of a few hours, police dealt with reports of a threatened motorist, suspected intoxication, a trip to a crisis center, a refusal of ambulance transport, claims about weapons, another disturbance, and finally an arrest.
And after the court appearance, Harris was back out again.
