Context: The vicinity of I-95 North and Northlake Boulevard located in Palm Beach County, Florida (Google Maps) Inset: Jonathon Pego (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
A man from Michigan has been charged with making threats against police officers after they approached him while he was sleeping beside a major highway to check on his well-being.
Jonathon Pego, age 35, was found asleep next to the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 close to Northlake Boulevard in Florida around 12:35 a.m. on Monday, as reported by an arrest warrant. He was situated on the western shoulder of the highway.
He was “unconscious, breathing and disheveled in appearance,” the court document states. Pego – later identified by a Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan card – “was obviously highly impaired and unaware he was on the side of a freeway,” police noted.
Pego is said to have identified himself by his name and birthday, but when a responding officer asked for more information, the Michigan man “became increasingly hostile.”
“F– you,” Pego allegedly told the officer when he offered his help. This prompted the officer to take out his taser and aim it at Pego, who is said to have become “increasingly hostile,” ignored orders not to stand up, and “told this officer in a threatening manner not to touch him.”
Just five minutes after arriving, officers restrained Pego and placed him under arrest.
Officers found an identification card in Pego’s pocket as they drove back to the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department. It was at this time that the man allegedly hurled threat after threat.
“No one is going to miss you where you’re going,” the arrest warrant cites Pego as saying. He also allegedly “made mentions about having friends who would do harm to this officer and this officer’s family” and “made threats against this officer’s life.”
Pego was charged with corruption by threat against a public servant or their family, resisting an officer with violence, and resisting an officer without violence. He was jailed and given a $1,000 bond.
