PALM HARBOR, Fla. — A Palm Harbor man's own dash camera video, that he voluntarily shared with troopers last Thursday, shows him swerving to hit a motorcyclist and led to the driver's arrest, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
- Jonathan Blaine, 35, faces numerous charges
- Troopers became skeptical of his story; Blaine later fought with them
- Blaine jailed on $80,000 bond
- More Pinellas County headlines
That driver, Jonathan Blaine, 35, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, escape, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer.
The road rage case happened at 2:18 p.m. Thursday at Lake Saint George Drive and Langstaff Drive in Palm Harbor. Blaine’s video shows him pull up to a stop sign where there are two motorcyclists. One of those motorcycle riders can be seen flipping off Blaine.
The video shows Blaine pass the motorcyclists who are stopped on the side of the road. A short time later, Blaine's car can be seen suddenly jerking to the left and hitting motorcyclist Corey Wilcox, 29, who was trying to pass.
When troopers arrive, Blaine tells them that he saw a motorcycle coming up behind him at a high rate of speed and for an unknown reason his car was struck, according to an arrest report. Blaine then shows the troopers his dash cam video and they become skeptical of his story.
"Could you see the jerk?" one trooper asks the other.
"I did, yeah," the other trooper responds.
The troopers then go back to interview motorcyclist Wilcox about the encounter. The entire conversation is captured on the five cameras mounted on the trooper's cruiser.
Jonathan Blaine, 35, was charged with for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was also charged with escape, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer. (FHP)
"He's got a dash cam. So, that's what we've been doing, watching that," the trooper said. "He tells us that you're coming up real fast. He sees you. Then all of a sudden, boom you hit him."
"He swerved at me," said Wilcox.
"Do you feel he did that intentionally?" asked the trooper.
"Most definitely, yeah. I was never in his lane," said Wilcox. "I mean, if he has a dash cam it should show that he definitely turned."
The troopers went back to Blaine's car and placed him under arrest. As they tried to get Blaine into the cruiser, he refused to put his feet into the vehicle and began to fight with the troopers.
"He's fighting, can we get another unit?" said the trooper on the radio. "He has not stopped fighting."
"I don't want to do this," Blaine said about going to jail.
The fight lasts about seven minutes and at one point Blaine's disabled wife can be seen throwing herself to the ground from the passenger seat of the car. The struggle ends after a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy arrived and threatened to stun Blaine.
"Don't move or you’re going to get tased," the deputy said.
The ordeal doesn't end there. The backseat cruiser camera shows Blaine wiggle his head beneath the seatbelt and he managed to wrap it around his neck twice to make it appear as though he has committed suicide.
When the trooper discovers the situation, he screams out for help.
"F--k call 911. Get EMS out here," said the trooper. "I got a pulse. Pull him out that way."
The troopers then suspect that Blaine was faking it.
"How'd that seatbelt get around your neck?" said the trooper. "I think he was pretending to be out."
Blaine was taken to the Pinellas County Jail where he is being held on an $80,000 bond. Wilcox did not respond to our request for an interview.