A Bloomfield Hills man is charged with felony assault, and assault and battery, after police say he threatened an older man and woman protesting outside the Planned Parenthood center in Ferndale.
The incident happened outside the center at 23338 Woodward Avenue near East Woodland about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 27.
Suspect Jonathon Pfaff, 34, was arraigned the next day in Ferndale 43rd District Court, and released on $1,500, 10 percent, cash bond.
Police said it is common for small numbers of two or more people intermittently protest outside the Planned Parenthood facility on the northbound side of Woodward. However, the protests rarely create problems that require police intervention.
Ferndale police Capt. Casey O’Loughlin said Pffaf told police he had run out of gas and parked his vehicle on East Woodland.
A man, 72, and a woman, 70, were protesting when Pffaf walked by them two times, police said.
“It was a chance encounter,” O’Loughlin said. “Pffaf first accused the protesters of making an antisemitic comment to him as he walked by. They said that wasn’t the case and stepped back.”
The protesters told police they had no idea who the suspect was and his strange behavior and accusations frightened them.
Alarmed, the male senior citizen took a cellphone picture of the license plate on Pfaff’s vehicle, which was parked nearby, police said.
Several minutes later, the suspect returned, and appeared angry, police said.
“He demanded that the man hand over his cellphone,” O’Loughlin said. “He demanded that the (male protester) give him the cellphone.”
The older man did not comply with the suspect’s demand, police said, but he and the woman later told police they were scared.
“He knocked the phone out of the older man’s hand,” O’Loughlin said. “They were about two feet apart and Pfaff then pulled out a knife.”
Police said the woman then used her cell phone to call 911 and officers arrived a short time later.
After pulling a knife on the older man, the suspect threatened to get a gun and shoot the two protesters, police said.
Officers arrested Pfaff near the Planned Parent location and determined the suspect had been carrying a gas can at one point.
“He admitted to pulling a knife out,” O’Laughlin said:
The felony assault charge against the suspect is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine. The assault and battery charge against him is a misdemeanor.
Pfaff’s attorney, Dana Wilson, was in Ferndale 43rd District Court on Thursday for a probable cause conference in the case.
Pfaff, however, was unable to be present for an undisclosed medical reason.
The hearing was postponed until 1 p.m. March 21.