KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ A man who led authorities on a high-speed pursuit Sunday afternoon along a stretch of Interstate 435 in northern Kansas City while he was naked on an ATV has been charged with burglary and tampering, according to Clay County prosecutors.
Johnathon A. Menth, 27, of Excelsior Springs also faces charges of property damage and sexual misconduct in connection with the incident, part of which was captured on video that has been viewed more than 2.3 million times on Facebook.
But some elements of the incident, including the reason Menth was naked, remain a mystery. A statement taken by a Kansas City police detective records Menth's explanation that he was high on drugs, "freaked out" when surrounded by police and was in "flight mode."
The statement does not specify what type of drugs Menth may have consumed.
He is being held in the Clay County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. No court date has been set.
The bond conditions require Menth "not to go out in public unless fully dressed," according to court records.
On Sunday, the pursuit began just before 2:30 p.m. when Kansas City police responded to a report of a "suspicious party ... a naked male" on an all-terrain vehicle on Northeast Sam Ray Road in Kansas City, North, according to court records.
From there police chased the naked man on the yellow ATV for nearly an hour, at times heading the wrong way on I-435. Eventually, police arrested Menth at the Cerner Corp. Riverport Campus, formerly the site of Sam's Town Casino.
The probable cause statement that accompanies the charges provides more detail about what led up to the chase. According to the statement:
Menth told police that he was high on drugs Sunday and was trying to get away from a man named Jeffrey who was "holding him captive."
At the same time, Menth told police he had ridden with Jeffrey in a PT Cruiser to a Sprint store in Liberty. While Jeffrey was inside the store, Menth jumped into the driver's seat of the car and tried to drive back home.
However, Menth said, he got lost. While trying to find his way home, he almost struck another car and while avoiding that wreck he hit something else, causing a tire to fall off.
Police came and Menth got scared, he said. "And the drugs had him to where he could not stop for nobody," the statement said.
Menth jumped out of the PT Cruiser and ran.
He kept running and felt he was getting away, jumping a fence and running through a yard by a house. He entered a garage, where he found a yellow 2002 Polaris ATV with its key in the ignition. He started the vehicle and sped away.
Menth told police that he tried to cut through the woods on the ATV to get back to Excelsior Springs, but police started pursuing him.
Menth said he "freaked out and drove away." He said he didn't stop for police because he was "in flight mode."
While fleeing police and heading the wrong way down I-435, Menth said he felt like he "was like playing a little game, going around and flying."
Menth said when he saw police everywhere, "he was flipping and could not stop."
"There was no stopping him," the statement said.
According to court records, the sexual misconduct charge stems from the allegation that Menth "exposed his genitals under circumstances in which he knew that such conduct was likely to cause affront or alarm."
In 2007, Menth was convicted of second-degree burglary, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest in Ray County.
