FORT PIERCE — A 51-year-old associate pastor accused of backing his car up at a school into a sheriff’s deputy is facing charges, according to recently released records.

St. Lucie County sheriff’s investigators arrested Ronald J. Reeves on May 14 on felony charges including aggravated battery on an officer and resisting an officer with violence, and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct following the events at Dale Cassens School.

Reeves reportedly arrived with an 11th-grade student and his grandmother. Reeves said he’s a mentor for the student and is an associate pastor at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.

They reportedly entered the principal’s office before Reeves came out and started making cell phone calls.

“Mr. Reeves was talking about talking to the governor’s office in reference to issues at Dale Cassens School, talking about having polygraphs done and issues with staff at the school,” an affidavit states.

It appeared to staffers that Reeves was trying to intimidate them, and he eventually was asked to leave, the affidavit states.

A deputy told him to leave, and Reeves allegedly continued being disruptive and threatening the deputy. Reeves got in his car after being told he was under arrest and to stop what he was doing.

The deputy sprayed the pastor with pepper spray, and Reeves started backing up as the deputy was between him and the car door. The deputy reported his life was in “great danger.”

Reeves on Tuesday disputed many aspects of the report, calling them “bogus.” He said he’s innocent.

Reeves said had he backed into the deputy, the door hinging mechanism on his 1996 BMW would have “popped” and the door would have gotten out of alignment. He also said his vehicle wasn’t even running.

“My car never moved,” Reeves said. “This man is putting stuff in there that never happened.”

Reeves said he’s filed complaints against the deputy for months, alleging improper performance of job duties. Reeves said he believes the arrest is the deputy’s payback.

By Will Greenlee

Tags: arrest, battery, car, cell, church, deputies, deputy, dispute, felony, grandmother, jobs, man, misdemeanor, pastor, Schools, sheriff, students

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 9:04 am and is filed under Crime, Fort Pierce, Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.