A Florida man allegedly challenged a uniformed police officer to a hospital fight and later appeared in a mug shot with a swollen, bloodied face and a black eye.
Ronald Jeffery Johnson, 51, of Fort Lauderdale, was arrested after an Aug. 29 incident at Broward Health Medical Center, where emergency-room trouble allegedly started with staff and ended with an off-duty cop in full uniform.
The New York Post reported that the officer had been called over while Johnson was yelling from the opposite side of the registration desk.
“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,” the officer wrote in the arrest report obtained by the Post.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ronald Jeffery Johnson, 51, of Fort Lauderdale was arrested Saturday, August 29, 2026, at Broward Health Medical Center, 1600 S. Andrews Ave., after an incident with medical staff and a Fort Lauderdale Police Department officer, according to a department… pic.twitter.com/PcXfwB74x5
— Police Incidents (@PoliceIncident) September 3, 2026
Johnson allegedly turned from the hospital staff to the officer after noticing him.
“I want to fight you,” Johnson reportedly yelled before rushing toward the cop.
The officer wrote that Johnson grabbed him during the struggle, and WPLG-TV reported that police accused Johnson of fighting attempts to restrain him.
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“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 arrest report stated.
The officer described bringing Johnson under control before the arrest.
“I physically subdued his intentional, aggressive, and violent behavior towards me, and he was taken into custody,” he wrote.
The hospital confrontation left the officer with a cut on his left hand that needed multiple stitches, according to the arrest report.
After medical treatment at Broward Health Medical Center, Johnson was taken to the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail.
Jail records show Johnson was charged with aggravated battery on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, assault on an officer and disorderly conduct.
He was being held on an $8,500 bond.
Johnson’s booking photo later drew attention online, showing him propped up with his face severely swollen and bloodied.
WPLG reported that Johnson was also wanted in Georgia in connection with a terroristic threats case.
The Georgia case traces back to 2023, when Johnson reportedly was arrested after allegedly threatening to attack someone with a boat paddle at a park in Cave Spring.
Because the alleged threat happened in front of the victim’s 8-year-old child, Johnson also faced a cruelty to children charge.
Another police encounter released on video this week began with a California man calling 911 over nighttime noise before allegedly pulling a sword on the deputy who responded.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office released bodycam video Tuesday from an Aug. 3 incident involving Joshua Dribin, 22, at Desert Oasis Mobile Estates in Rosamond, about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles.
Dribin had contacted 911 about a peace disturbance, deputies said.
“Someone’s been waking me up at 10 o’clock at night, and I’m getting really, really mad,” Dribin told the dispatcher before warning that he was “really gonna f**k them up.”
The caller blamed someone for stopping a vehicle outside his home and revving the engine, then said the noise had ended because he threatened to punch them.
When a deputy spoke with Dribin in person, the noise complaint still came with threats.
“I’m really about to punch him and sock him out,” Dribin told the deputy.
The deputy soon had a weapon problem instead of a noise problem.
“Hold the gun. I’m going to get my sword now … I’m going to go take care of it … I’m going to go kill him now,” Dribin said.
The sheriff’s office said bodycam video showed Dribin holding a sword as the deputy called for backup.
Dribin allegedly jumped a fence and advanced on the deputy despite commands to stop and drop the weapon.
Instead, he repeatedly yelled, “shoot bitch!”
The bodycam footage also showed Dribin trying to open the deputy’s patrol vehicle door, according to the sheriff’s office.
As Dribin continued toward him, the deputy warned, “I’m going to shoot you!”
“Kill me!” Dribin shouted before the deputy fired three shots.
After Dribin fell to the street, he tossed the sword away under the deputy’s orders and told him, “I wanted you to shoot me.”
Deputies treated Dribin at the scene before an ambulance took him to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Dribin was later arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, resisting a peace officer using force, exhibiting a deadly weapon at peace officer to resist arrest, and resisting, obstructing, delaying a peace officer in the performance of their duties.
No deputies or other civilians were injured, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said deadly-force cases involving department members are sent to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office for criminal review.
An Incident Review Board examined the Aug. 3 shooting last Thursday and determined the force used was within policy.
