Florida man arrested after allegedly challenging cop to a fight inside hospital

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) -- A 51-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly challenging a police officer to a fight in a hospital.

Ronald Jeffrey Johnson was allegedly shouting at employees in a hospital’s emergency department on Aug. 29 when a police officer responded to the scene, the New York Post reports. In an arrest report obtained by the outlet, the police officer alleged, “I observed the defendant yelling at medical staff from the opposite side of the registration desk, causing a breach of peace in the waiting room and creating fear in the surrounding patients.”

Johnson then approached the officer and allegedly told him he wanted to fight him, the Post reports. According to the arrest report, a physical altercation allegedly ensued, and the officer was eventually able to control Johnson’s alleged “intentional, aggressive, and physical behavior.”

Johnson was treated for his injuries on site. The officer involved suffered a laceration to the hand that required stitches. Johnson was medically cleared and then taken to jail and charged with aggravated battery on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, assault on an officer and disorderly conduct, according to the Post. He is being held on $8,500 bond.

Johnson allegedly threatened to beat up someone with a boat paddle in front of their 8-year-old child in Georgia in 2023, WPLG reports, and he was charged with making terroristic threats and cruelty to children. The Post reports Johnson is reportedly wanted in Georgia for failure to appear in court in connection with those charges.