Tyler Johnson, 33, was squirted with pepper spray and charged with disorderly conduct.
By LEANORA MINAI
Published September 17, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - After waiting in a long line of cars at a police roadblock leading to flooded Shore Acres, Tyler Johnson grew frustrated.
He had been through the same drill to get home during hurricanes Charley and Frances.
So Wednesday, when Hurricane Ivan created high tides that flooded Shore Acres, Johnson decided to park his Ford Expedition on a side street and hike to the roadblock at the 40th Avenue NE bridge.
"This is bull----," said Johnson, 33, as he passed a St. Petersburg police officer.
The incident between Johnson and Officer Jason Deary escalated and by the time their encounter ended, hurricane stress had taken its toll: Johnson, who works in sales and marketing for Franklin Templeton, was squirted with pepper spray and arrested, charged with disorderly conduct.
"I've never been arrested," said Johnson, who earned an MBA from the University of South Florida. "I'm a straight-laced guy, a family guy."
Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said he could not comment on the actions of Johnson or the officer. He said the misdemeanor charge would be resolved in court.
"A lot of folks out there were frustrated due to the fact they couldn't get to their homes," Proffitt said. "People were hurricane weary, I guess."
The incident began about 5 p.m. in the 4000 block of 12th Street NE.
Police were limiting traffic onto the flooded streets of Shore Acres after complaints that speeding motorists were creating wakes that flooded driveways and yards.
Johnson said he had been waiting 15 minutes in the roadblock line that stretched about 90 vehicles deep from the bridge that led to Shores Acres.
He was trying to get home to Patrician Point and his 11/2-year-old daughter who was with a babysitter, Johnson said.
"Nobody is moving anywhere except being turned around," he said.
So Johnson drove to a side street, parked his car and walked to the bridge. He said he saw Deary talking on a cell phone "in the middle of all this chaos."
" "It didn't make me too happy, and this is where I'm going to take the blame for being a bad guy," Johnson said. "As I'm walking past the cop, I say, "This is bull----.' "
Police said Deary told Johnson to watch his language, that parents and children from Lutheran Church of the Cross were nearby.
But Johnson said he didn't see any children around and that the officer told him, "Hey, I hope you get hit by a car."
Proffitt said the police report reflects no such comment by Deary.
Johnson said he responded by cursing at the officer.
Police said Deary took Johnson into custody, but he resisted while he was being handcuffed, prompting the officer to squirt Johnson's face with pepper spray. Johnson said he didn't resist arrest.
Johnson was sitting in the police cruiser for about 30 minutes when his wife, Julie, who also was stuck in the same traffic roadblock, walked up to the officers. She saw her husband in the squad car.
"I just started yelling her name," Johnson said.
Johnson said his wife got conflicting direction from officers about a route home: Deary said she could drive over the bridge, but another officer had told her she had to park and walk over the bridge.
Police said Thursday that Johnson would have been allowed to cross the bridge and get home if he had simply told officers he lived in Patrician Point, which sits west of Shore Acres Boulevard and wasn't flooded like Shore Acres.
Johnson spent five hours in the Pinellas County Jail. He was released after his wife posted $250 bail. "I'm appalled," Johnson said.
