It wasn’t a good morning for Jonathan Ford. Nor, for that matter, residents and motorists near the fairgrounds area in Canton.
Northeast Ohio media reported on Tuesday that Ford, who has a Mansfield address, set 15 racehorses loose at the Stark County Fairgrounds at about 6:00 AM Monday morning. According to this story from Cleveland 19 News, one horse drowned in a nearby lake.
According to the incident report from the Canton Police Department, Ford entered the horse barn building “by unknown means” and proceeded to release the horses, which in turn ran freely through neighboring lawns and roads. Other police and fire units, as well as volunteers, strove to keep the animals from endangered the public and themselves by keeping them off the roads. According to the report, “Mr. Ford was also found to have two types of marijuana on his person.”Ford has an arraignment set for Wednesday on two misdemeanor charges of Drug Paraphernalia and Drug Possession, both involving marijuana.