Fort Lauderdale man arrested after attacking officer at hospital, cops say

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 51-year-old Fort Lauderdale man was arrested this past weekend after police said he confronted medical staff at a hospital, challenged responding officers to a fight and struggled with an officer who was trying to take him into custody.

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Ronald Jeffery Johnson was arrested Saturday following the incident at Broward Health Medical Center, located at 1600 S. Andrews Ave., according to an arrest report from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

Police said an officer was working an off-duty detail in full uniform at the hospital when medical staff asked him to respond to the waiting room.

According to the report, the officer found Johnson yelling at medical staff from across the registration desk. Police said Johnson’s behavior was causing a disturbance and “creating fear” among other patients in the waiting room.

Police said when they intervened, Johnson ― who has a Georgia arrest warrant connected to a terroristic threats case ― looked at one of them and stated, “I want to fight you,” before charging toward the officer.

A struggle followed, with police saying Johnson grabbed the officer and resisted efforts to restrain him.

“I physically subdued his intentional, aggressive and violent behavior towards me and he was taken into custody,” the officer wrote in the report.

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The officer suffered a cut to his left hand during the struggle that required multiple stitches, the report states.

Police said Johnson was first treated at the hospital for facial injuries before being taken to the Broward County Main Jail for booking.

Jail records show he is facing charges including aggravated battery on a first responder, resisting an officer with violence, assault on an officer, firefighter or emergency medical technician, and disorderly conduct.

Records show Johnson remained in custody Wednesday at the Broward County Main Jail, where his bond was set at $8,500.

According to a local news outlet in north Georgia, Johnson was arrested in 2023 on a terroristic threats charge after being accused of threatening to beat someone with a boat paddle at a park in Cave Spring, Georgia.

That threat, authorities said, happened in front of the victim’s 8-year-old, earning him a cruelty to children charge.

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