Scioto County deputies were called to Franklin Furnace Independent Church around 2 a.m. after a report of a man on foot screaming for an ambulance.
The caller said the man was acting strangely and had scared her.
A squad was placed on standby at the station while deputies responded.
Dispatchers contacted Hughes Reentry and learned a man had left the facility against staff advice. Staff said if deputies could convince him to return, they would take him back.
Deputies found the man sitting near the church sign.
According to the sheriff’s log, the man said he did not need to go to the hospital. Instead, he said he wanted to go to Wheelersburg to get into a different rehab center.
The squad was canceled.
A deputy gave the man a ride to Wheelersburg and dropped him off at Speedee Mart.
The man was advised that if he caused problems, he could be arrested.
He was last reported walking eastbound on Ohio River Road.
No arrest was listed in the information provided.
The call is another example of what deputies and EMS often run into overnight: someone leaves treatment, alarms people nearby, asks for medical help, then refuses the hospital and wants a different kind of help instead.
In this case, the man did not go back to the facility he had left.
He did not go to the hospital.
He got dropped off in Wheelersburg and kept walking.
