PALM COAST, FL – A 42-year-old Palm Coast resident faces four charges, including three felonies, after he pointed a handgun at a Sheriff’s corporal who pulled him over for a traffic violation.
Jason Aaron Keel is being held on $25,000 bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility following his arrest Thursday evening (September 22, 2022) at the Bank of America parking lot on 2 Old Kings Road North in Palm Coast.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported in the incident, which started around 10:30 p.m. when a Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) corporal spotted Keel behind the wheel of a white Ford Fusion heading east on Palm Coast Parkway near Old Kings Road.
The corporal saw Keel – who was the only person inside the Ford – drive into a crosswalk with a steady red light, prompting the traffic stop. Keel then pulled into the bank parking lot and told the corporal he had a gun when the corporal approached his vehicle.
When the corporal ordered him to show his hands, Keel did so at first, but then he reached for a black handgun which was lying on the front passenger seat and pointed the barrel at the corporal. Keel claimed he was just trying to give him the gun.
The corporal pulled out his agency-issued firearm and ordered Keel to put the gun down and exit the car. Keel did so and the corporal held him at gunpoint until additional deputies could respond to assist in the arrest. After Keel was secured and arrested, it was determined that Keel’s gun was loaded with a live round in the chamber.
“If not for the de-escalation and tactical training we provide our deputies, this idiot would be dead,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “This guy made a series of bad choices, starting with driving a car drunk and not stopping properly at a red light, then refusing to comply with lawful orders and pointing a gun at a deputy sheriff. I’m grateful our corporal was not hurt and this guy should be counting his lucky stars that he’s in the Green Roof Inn and not in the morgue!”
Keel refused to submit to field sobriety tests at the scene and refused a breathalyzer test at the jail. The Ford Fusion and the handgun were seized as evidence.
Keel is charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, using a firearm under the influence of alcohol, carrying a concealed firearm and driving under the influence of alcohol. He has no prior arrests in Flagler County.
FCSO
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