A Florida judge on Tuesday kept bond at $100,000 for Michael Drejka, who had invoked the state’s ‘stand your ground’ law before he was charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man who assaulted him outside a convenience store.
Judge Joseph Bulone in the Pinellas County court on Tuesday said that if the 48-year-old suspect posts bail, he must surrender all of his guns to the sheriff, wear an ankle monitor and not leave the county.
He said he didn’t have the money to hire a private attorney, which means a public defender will be appointed. Drejka appeared in court from the county jail via video.
Drejka was arrested on Monday over the death of 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton in Clearwater on July 19.
Michael Drejka makes his first appearance at the Pinellas Courthouse in Clearwater, Florida, Tuesday from the county jail via video, facing manslaughter charges
Drejka, 47, was arrested on Monday (left in his mugshot) over the shooting death of 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton (right) in Clearwater on July 19
McGlockton’s girlfriend Britany Jacobs and father Michael McGlockton were on hand for Drejka’s first appearance Tuesday
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Detective George Moffett revealed that Drejka had threatened three other drivers previously.
Three months before the fatal July incident, Drejka allegedly threatened to shoot Richard Kelly, a black septic truck driver, and hurled racial slurs at him when the driver parked in the same handicapped-accessible parking space as McGlockton, reported CNN.
Kelly drove away, but his boss told Moffett that Drejka later called, telling him ‘that he was lucky he didn’t blow his employee’s head off.’
Moffet also said that in 2012, drivers involved in two separate road-rage confrontations with Drejka said he pointed a gun at them.
Moffet said that in one of the cases, 18-year-old Tyler Smith was driving in front of Drejka’s truck when he stopped at a yellow light, which allegedly enraged Drejka and prompted him to display a black gun at the teenager, and later follow him. Smith declined to press charges.
In another incident that year, a woman told police that Drejka pointed a gun at her and the occupants of her car.
When police interviewed the suspect, Drejka denied pointing a gun at the other vehicle, but said he honked at the motorist because she was driving too slow through a school zone.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court Judge Joseph Bulone kept bond at $100,000 for Drejka and said that if the suspect posts bail, he must surrender all of his guns to the sheriff
Jacobs (center), said after the brief hearing: ‘I can tell my kids now that the police got the bad man’
In November 2013, Drejka was again interviewed by police in connection to a road-rage incident, in which he was accused of deliberately causing another vehicle carrying two children to rear-end his truck.
Drejka claimed he missed a turn, but the trooper who responded to the scene wrote in his report that based on the evidence, it did not appear like the motorist had attempted to turn before the crash, and Drejka was cited for stopping or sudden decrease in speed without signaling.
On July 19, Markeis McGlockton’s girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, was seated in the couple’s car with two of their children, ages 3 years and 4 months, when she said Drejka confronted her for being parked in a handicapped-accessible space.
McGlockton had gone into the store with the couple’s 5-year-old son, also named Markeis.
Jacobs said Drejka yelled at her to move the ‘f**king car’.
After exiting the store and seeing the argument, McGlockton shoved Drejka to the ground before Drejka pulled out his handgun seconds later and fired.
Video showed McGlockton leaving the store and shoving Drejka to the ground. Seconds later, Drejka pulls a handgun and shoots McGlockton as he backs away. McGlockton then runs back into the store clutching his chest. Witnesses said he collapsed in front of young Markeis, who was waiting inside.
‘I can tell my kids now that the police got the bad man,’ Jacobs said, following the brief bond hearing. She was one of several family members who attended. ‘I’m still answering their questions about when daddy is going to wake up. And all I can tell them is, daddy is resting right now.’
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri originally declined to charge Drejka, saying one day after the shooting that the man was protected by Florida’s stand-your-ground law. The sheriff passed the case to prosecutors for a final decision.
Gualtieri stood by his decision not to arrest Drejka, saying the man was defending himself and had claimed he was in fear for his life.
The family, civil rights groups and others had been holding protests demanding Drejka be charged.
The State Attorney had reviewed the case and decided to pursue charges against Drejka.
‘The charges are only one step in this journey to get justice for the unbelievable killing of Markeis McGlockton in front of his children,’ said Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney. ‘They understand when you look at the history of the state of Florida and stand your ground that this doesn’t equal a conviction.
‘All of America is watching Clearwater, Florida to see if there will be equal justice for Markeis McGlockton … If the facts were in reverse, nobody would doubt what the outcome would be.’
Following the State Attorney’s decision, Sheriff Gualtieri said in a statement: ‘I support the State Attorney’s decision and will have no further comment as the case continues to work its way through the criminal justice system.’
Markeis McGlockton (left, standing) was shot dead by Michael Drejka (kneeling) outside a store following a dispute about a parking spot. McGlockton had shoved Drejka to the ground before Drejka pulled out his handgun and fired
McGlockton’s videotaped shooting revived debate over Florida’s ‘stand-your-ground’ law.
Under the law, people are allowed to use deadly force if they believe they are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and have no obligation to retreat.
‘I didn’t make the law, and I do not do what people want because of outrage,’ sheriff Gualtieri said at the time. ‘If you’re outraged by the law and don’t like the law, then change it.’
Under a change made by the Legislature last year, if a suspect raises a stand-your-ground defense, prosecutors must prove the law doesn’t apply.
The case drew hundreds to a rally earlier this month in Clearwater.
McGlockton’s family, who had been pushing for charges to be filed against Drejka, released a statement on Monday saying the update provided a small measure of comfort.
‘While this decision cannot bring back our partner, our son, our father, we take solace in knowing our voices are being heard as we work for justice,’ they said.
‘This man killed Markeis in cold blood, without a second thought about the devastating impact his actions would have on our family, but this charge gives us a measure of hope that the truth will win and justice will prevail in the end.’
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri recently stood by his decision not to arrest Drejka, saying the man was defending himself and had claimed he was in fear for his life
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, the victim’s father Michael McGlockton said that if the law didn’t exist, his son might have gone home that night.
‘No law should be able to protect somebody to the point that they kill somebody on the street and they can lay in the bed the same night,’ McGlockton said.
‘To me and my family, that’s a slap in the face. (Drejka) would’ve thought twice before he pulled the trigger. With the law, he knew that he could hide behind that.’
‘He didn’t have to pull that trigger. But because of ‘stand your ground,’ this is what happens.’
McGlockton said it is his son who was defending himself and his family against a threat.
‘Every man raises his kid to be that ultimate man for his family,’ McGlockton said. ‘That’s exactly what he was doing, standing up for his family. I’m so proud of him because he did exactly what I taught him to do.’