Former Behavioral Specialist Who Was Laid Off Attempted To Run Florida Principal Off The Road And Threatened To Kill Him

A middle school principal feared for his life when a former school employee attempted to run him off the road as he was on his way to an out-of-state conference, threatening to kill him.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, behavioral intervention specialist Jashon Johnson, 37, of Riviera Beach, Florida, was laid off in June 2014 at John F. Kennedy Middle School due to “budget constraints.” He didn’t take the news very well as he, a year later, tried to run the 38-year-old school principal, Corey Brooks, off of the road.

Former employee charged with running Florida middle school principal off the road http://t.co/MPJnJAGiX5 pic.twitter.com/WHmPTFPpWd

— Joshua Chavers (@JoshuaChavers) July 23, 2015

Brooks told Riviera police officials that as he was driving to a conference on Tuesday on North Congress Avenue and West Blue Heron Boulevard, he noticed a blue Volvo speed behind him, causing him to swerve to avoid “being run off the road.”

He said he saw Johnson — who used to work with children on their anger and behavioral issues at the middle school — driving the blue car.

“You think I forgot,” Johnson yelled out the window at the principal as he was trying to run him off the road. “I am going to kill you, (expletive), I am going to kill you!” The principal came to a stop on a sidewalk, where he sat in his car for a few minutes, in disbelief what had transpired, according to Brooks.

“He’s physically fine,” said Julie Houston Trieste, who is the district’s spokeswoman. “He’s shaken up. It did scare him pretty good.”

“It wasn’t a typical disgruntled-employee situation. It was nothing like that — he was non-reappointed because of funding.”

Eventually, the principal pulled into a school parking lot where he called police and informed them about the incident. He also added that the cars never collided, but would have if he hadn’t quickly swerved onto a sidewalk, where pedestrians could have been walking or running.

The day after the attack, Johnson was apprehended when he reported to the police department to give his side of the story. He denied ever trying to run Brooks off of the road, and stated that the principal actually “flipped a bird at him” while the two were driving on the same road.

When Johnson knew he was facing aggravated assault charges on a school board employee, he asked for a lawyer and remained silent.

However, Riviera police found probable cause to place Johnson under arrest for trying to run the John F. Kennedy middle school principal off of the road.

This is an ongoing investigation.

[Image courtesy of Scott Barbour / Getty Images]