CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A 25‑year‑old man is in custody after deputies say he stripped down to his boxers and jumped off the Elmdale Grange Bridge into the Scioto River, triggering a massive emergency response Tuesday afternoon.
The Guardian first reported the incident shortly after it unfolded.
According to the Ross County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the bridge on Charleston Pike after a caller reported a man wearing only boxers standing on the edge. As Deputy Nott arrived — and before he could even step out of his cruiser — the man leaped from the bridge into the river below.
The jump prompted a countywide response involving dozens of law enforcement officers, fire crews, and rescue teams who searched the river and surrounding banks. The man was eventually located, taken into custody, and transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Deputies identified him as Bradley Krafthefer, 25. He remains held in the Ross County Jail on a parole holder, along with new charges of obstruction and inducing panic, according to jail records.
The Sheriff’s Office says the case remains under investigation.