You probably couldn’t dream up more intriguing mugshots for a story with this headline. And by all accounts, the headline itself sums up the story:
Two Ohio men in their mid-20s got into the already-flooded Great Miami River with the intention to surf, things went south, they asked for help. As it turned out, they didn’t actually need help after all so they set out on their intended radventure. Help was on its way but the two Ohio men were now nowhere to be found. Panic ensued. Or technically, panic had been induced, which as it turns out is an arrestable offense in the state of Ohio. So the guys were arrested on “suspicion of inducing panic” and spent a weekend behind bars.
According to news reports, the men were spotted near Ohio 47 and Port Huron Drive when they fell into the river and asked a passersby for help.
“We had prepared for a water rescue,” Shelby County Sheriff’s Sgt. Joel Howell said. “We weren’t exactly sure if they were in the water.”
But then the next word first responders got was that the same two men had been spotted south of town, now wet and carrying what was described as an oar (apparently this was a SUP mission?). According to Howell, their mistake sounds as simple as not hanging around for first responders after asking for help.
As mentioned, it wasn’t immediately clear what the men were using to surf or where but there was a similar situation in Dayton in 2017 near the whitewater park there. Shannon Thompson was surfing in the area in November of 2017 during high flows, which prompted a slew of ambulance and firetrucks to show up after concerned citizens called 911.
