CHILLICOTHE, OH — A erratic scene outside a local gas station ended in the arrest of a man who disrupted traffic and falsely claimed a body was hidden nearby late Monday night.
According to a Chillicothe Police Department report, Officer Nate Crabtree was dispatched to the Valero station at 228 North Bridge Street around 11:30 p.m. on September 14, 2026, to assist the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Upon arrival, Officer Crabtree found a state trooper standing beside a male, identified as Johnathan Rayburn, sitting on the ground near the corner of Riverside Street and Bridge Street. Officers noted Rayburn was heavily sweating, extremely paranoid, and claiming he was being actively chased. He also insisted to law enforcement that there was a dead woman inside a bush across the street near the Valero.
Officers searched the bushes and confirmed there was no body. While checking the area, an employee of the Valero told police that Rayburn had been wandering up and down Bridge Street for nearly an hour. The employee reported that Rayburn was picking up trash only to throw it back down, running in circles, and repeatedly stepping into oncoming traffic, forcing vehicles to come to a complete stop to avoid hitting him.
When officers initially questioned Rayburn about his location, he stated he was in Athens before later realizing he was in Chillicothe. During his transport to the Ross County Jail, he continued to express paranoia, making repeated statements that the police cruiser was going to explode.
Determining that Rayburn posed a safety risk to both himself and the public, police arrested him on a charge of disorderly conduct by intoxication.
Rayburn was booked into the Ross County Jail and issued a summons to appear in Chillicothe Municipal Court on September 28, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
