BLANCHESTER —No one was injured or charged after a resident greeted EMS personnel with a gun and held one at gunpoint Tuesday morning.

At around 5 a.m. an ambulance was dispatched to a person needing “lift assist” in the apartment complex at 901 E. Cherry St., apartment D-4, according to Police Chief Scott Reinbolt.

However, the ambulance crew responded to apartment B-4, Reinbolt said in a press release. The ambulance crew announced their presence, then obtained a pass key from a member of the management staff at the complex and used it to enter the apartment.

“They were greeted at the door by a man with a gun,” said Reinbolt. “One medic fled down the hallway of the complex. The other attempted to flee but was held at gunpoint by the man, who called 911 reporting intruders in his home.”

Blanchester police were dispatched to the scene when that 911 call was received.

The first officer to arrive was a Clinton County Sheriff’s Deputy who happened to be in town, said Reinbolt.

The man with the gun was identified as Ronald Lehman, 66, of 901 E. Cherry St., apartment B-4, who was placed in handcuffs and into the back seat of her cruiser while the situation was sorted out, Reinbolt said.

“Ptl. Ian Courtney of the Blanchester Police Dept. arrived, conferred with the deputy and spoke with witnesses. Based upon the information he obtained, he asked the deputy to release Mr. Lehman from her custody, which she did,” said Reinbolt. “The information Ptl. Courtney gleaned indicated that Mr. Lehman and his wife did not call for emergency medical assistance, that they did not hear the ambulance crew announce themselves, and woke to hear someone tampering with the lock on their door.

“Thinking their home was being burglarized, Mr. Lehman gathered the handgun he keeps for personal protection and went to the door and opened it, encountering the ambulance crew attempting to enter his home,” said Reinbolt. “It was not apparent to either Mr. or Mrs. Lehman that the two were emergency medical responders. Mr. Lehman relaxed once a dispatcher was able to convince him that the two people who entered his apartment were ambulance personnel.”

We do not intend to file any criminal charges in this matter,” said Reinbolt. “Mr. Lehman appears to have been acting in good faith in exercising his right to protect his home. The ambulance crew appears to have been acting in good faith in answering a call for assistance. The circumstances that led to them going to the wrong address is a matter for their management team to determine.”