An out-of-control Florida man is facing charges for allegedly attempting to choke a Black teen by sticking his fingers down his throat.
Police hit Gregory McPhedrain, of Sanibel Island, with two counts of battery and one charge of child abuse after video showed him grabbing a 17-year-old boy by the back of the neck and shoving his fingers in his mouth.
The boy, identified only by his first name, Isaiah, told local outlet Gulf Coast News: “Once I seen him get out the car and start coming at us, that’s when I felt the need to protect me and my friend’s property. And I just felt like our lives were in danger.”
His 15-year-old friend Brysin described the alleged assault as “weird.”
“I see the guy get behind him. And so I get up closer, and the dude grabs him by, like, the neck. It was kind of weird. It looked like he was trying to shove his fingers down my friend’s throat,” he told the outlet.
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a judge set McPhedrain’s bond at $35,000, with $5,000 assigned to each of the two battery charges and $25,000 for the charge of cruelty toward a child. He will be back before a Circuit Court judge on Dec. 7.
The 57-year-old brute reported the boys for trespassing as they were fishing in a pond in a residential neighborhood on the mainland portion of Lee County.
After the boys left the property, they were riding home on an e-bike when McPhedrain caught up to them.
The boys told the outlet that he almost hit them while speeding on the same street and then slammed on the brakes at a stop sign.
After a tense exchange, they said he threw liquid at them, which was captured on video.
He drove away but then turned around, pulled over again, and got out of his car. The teens said the confrontation escalated when they tried to photograph his license plate.
Isaiah recalled: “Well, the first 30 seconds was just silence. You know, just really debriefing what just happened,” adding, “It’s not OK to put your hands on a child in any situation, no matter what. If you are above the age of 18, you should know better than to put your hands on a child.”
