Florida man charged after attacking officer at Fort Lauderdale hospital

Ronald Jeffrey Johnson, 51, charged at a Broward County officer after yelling "I want to fight you" at a Fort Lauderdale ER. The cop needed stitches; Johnson faces four charges.

Fort Lauderdale hospital brawl leaves officer injured, suspect with bloodied face

A 51-year-old Florida man was arrested Saturday after attacking a Broward County Sheriff's Office officer inside a Fort Lauderdale emergency room, leaving both men with injuries, Toronto Sun Crime reports.

Ronald Jeffrey Johnson, who weighs 240 pounds, had been yelling at medical staff in the emergency department of Broward Health Medical Center when an officer was called to the scene. According to the arrest report cited by the New York Post, the officer observed Johnson "causing a breach of peace in the waiting room and creating fear in the surrounding patients" from across the registration desk.

When Johnson spotted the officer, he allegedly shouted, "I want to fight you," and charged directly at him.

"A physical altercation between me and the defendant ensued, where he initially grabbed me in an attempt to fight me, and resisted me from controlling him," the officer wrote in the arrest report.

The officer managed to subdue and arrest Johnson, but sustained a cut to his left hand that required stitches. Johnson himself was treated at the hospital for facial injuries including a black eye — injuries visible in a bloodied and swollen mugshot subsequently released by the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

He was later transported to Broward County Main Jail, where he was booked on four counts: aggravated battery on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, assault on an officer, and disorderly conduct.

Court records cited by the Post also indicated that Johnson was wanted in the state of Georgia for failing to appear in court on charges of making terroristic threats.

Source: Toronto Sun Crime