A homeless man charged with running over a Springfield Police officer outside police headquarters Tuesday told officers “you guys knew you had this coming” when he was pulled from his SUV.
Jon Routh is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action for dragging Officer Mark Priebe under his vehicle, pinning him against a concrete pillar.
Priebe has a spinal injury and may never walk again.
Routh had been living out of his vehicle after returning to Springfield a week ago.
He had been spending time in Austin, Seattle, Portland, and Colorado Springs.
Court records say Routh admitted driving around police headquarters for up to an hour.
He says he was being mentally harassed by the FBI or police and wanted to let officers know they were harassing him.
He says he remembered seeing an officer go for his gun before he blacked out.
He says he then realized his SUV was wrecked.
He says he surrendered and was shot.
Routh sent a text earlier in the day saying “Apparently I can’t get a job unless I loose Lilith I’m going to run a cop over I think.”
