A homeless man in Missouri has been charged with assault for ramming his car into a police officer and saying: ‘You guys knew you had this coming.’
Jon Routh, 28, texted friends two hours before Tuesday morning’s attack saying he was ‘going to run a cop over I think.’
He drove his SUV to the Springfield Police Department headquarters at 9:30am, and circled the parking lot in a white Isuzu Trooper.
Surveillance video also captured Routh urinating on the department’s front doors.
Jon Routh, 28, faces life in prison for ramming his SUV into a police officer in Springfield, MO
Officer Mark Priebe, a 21-year veteran of the force, then went outside to confront Routh.
Routh drove into Priebe, dragging him until he hit a barrier outside the department.
Another officer fired a shot at Routh’s vehicle, hitting him.
When officers pulled Routh from the SUV, he told them: ‘You guys knew you had this coming.’
He told investigators he was concerned that ‘The whole campaign is to scare the (bleep) out of me.’
Routh – a drifter who had just moved to Springfield after living in Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Colorado Springs, Colorado – said he was being mentally harassed by people the FBI or police were using to target him.
He said he drove around the ‘cop shop’ to show he meant business, but had no intention to harm anyone and claimed he blacked out when he saw an officer draw a gun.
Priebe suffered multiple rib fractures and a spinal cord injury in the attack.
He had surgery on Tuesday night to stabilize his spine, and on Wednesday his wife Heather said he was ‘alert and talking to us.’
Mark Priebe, a 21-year veteran of the Springfield police, suffered spinal injuries in the attack
‘Why would it happen to anybody, but of all people, why Mark?’ said Michael Walker, president of the Springfield Police Officers Association.
Walker said Priebe is well known for his work with the Special Olympics.
‘Mark Priebe is really the kind of officer that made me want to be a police officer,’ he added.
Walker said many officers have felt hatred from the community in the last couple of weeks, as anger against police has spread across the country.
But he denied there were problems with racism and brutality in their force.
‘We don’t keep bad cops here. We don’t,’ he said.
‘The problem is that people that are mentally ill, in the way that those statements seem to indicate, are very easily persuaded by outside influences, with all the hate.’
Routh staged his attack on Tuesday morning, and after told the officers they ‘had this coming’
On Wednesday evening a vigil was held for Priebe, with his fellow officers showing support
Staff at the Veterans Coming Home Center saw Routh just a few days ago.
‘He would come in, check his mail, and then leave,’ said Quinton Forester.
When they temporarily misplaced a document, his anger was obvious.
‘He’s cussing up a storm, treating us very rudely,’ said Forester.
A GoFundMe page set up to support the family has raised almost $83,000 as of Thursday night.
‘Mark is a pillar of the community and one of the most dedicated police officers you will ever meet,’ the page says.
‘Mark participates and helps organize various Special Olympics events, including traveling to Abu Dhabi in 2019 to represent the department he is so proud to serve with.’
Routh has been charged with two felonies – assaulting a special victim and armed criminal action.
First-degree assault is a class A felony that carries a penalty of 10-30 years or life in prison.
Armed criminal action carries a penalty of at least three years in prison.