Portsmouth police were called to Southern Ohio Medical Center after hospital staff reported a 400 lb. man with a large dog was refusing to leave and becoming confrontational.
When officers arrived, they told the man hospital staff wanted him off the property.
He agreed to leave.
But he also told officers he needed help.
Hospital staff helped him into a wheelchair and began pushing him outside, then toward the edge of the property.
At that point, police stepped back because hospital workers said they were handling the situation.
But officers didn’t simply leave him there.
They contacted the Quick Response Team, and an officer stayed with the man while arrangements were made.
A short time later, the QRT arrived and took over.
No arrest was made.
The call is another example of the kind of situation Portsmouth officers increasingly find themselves handling: not a crime, but a person with nowhere obvious to go and no easy answer about who is responsible once a hospital, business, or other facility says they have to leave.
In this case, officers were able to connect the man with another team rather than simply watching him roll off the property line and disappear into the night.