Deputies: Eustis man threw rocks at vehicles

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - One by one, the calls came in to 911 operators of a shirtless man throwing rocks at vehicles along a rural county road.

“There was a kid in the road and he kind of threw stuff at my truck while I was driving down 44A,” reported one caller.

“He threw something at my vehicle,” said another caller, “I don't know if it was mud or what. It's all over my vehicle.”

Lake County deputies 29-year-old John Gregory was the guy doing it.

“There was this gentleman - I use that term loosely - squatting alongside the road, popping up and throwing rocks and dirt and other objects at their vehicles as they passed by,” explained Lt. John Herrell, with the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies say Gregory even told them why he was doing it. They say on his way to jail, Gregory told them he was tired of people not sharing the roadway, and that “he must do what he has to do.”

Deputies, though, said there's better ways to handle disputes with drivers. “We have a traffic enforcement unit that sets up traffic radar and patrol areas where there are complaints. So he had a lot of other options,” Lt. Herrell said.

Now, Gregory is facing felony charges. “What if he were to distract them, cause them to swerve off the road, over-correct and hit someone head-on?” Herrell asked, “There's all kinds of bad scenarios that could've come from this.”