A 68-year-old Delray Beach man faces five charges, including battery on a law enforcement officer, after police say he threw a plastic container at an officer and later threatened to kill Delray Beach police officers from a hospital bed.
John Frederick Grummel was arrested the night of Oct. 17, after Delray Beach police were called around 9:15 p.m. to a disturbance at 1314 N. Federal Highway. Officers found him sitting on the ground and slurring his words. A witness told police he had been in a physical fight with another man, and fire rescue was called because Grummel could not stand or walk on his own.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Grummel said he wanted to take an officer’s gun and shoot police. When he asked for a drink and was told that an open container could not be carried in public under city ordinance, he demanded a search warrant. Police say he then threw a plastic container at an officer, who deflected it. He also refused to get into the patrol car.
At Delray Medical Center, where he was taken for medical complaints, police say Grummel threatened another officer, refused to be secured to his bed after a CT scan and said the world would be better off without Delray Beach police.
Grummel is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, assault on a law enforcement officer, corruption by threat against a public official, disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail and is being held without bond on several of the charges.
The charges are allegations, and Grummel is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
