Coronavirus: Florida man threatens mom with butter knife, coughs on deputy, officials say

DELAND, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of threatening to kill his mother with a butter knife and coughing on a deputy who responded to the scene, authorities said.

According to the Volusia Sheriff's Office, a woman called 911 Saturday to report that her son, 46-year-old Brent Smith, of DeLand, shoved her several times before grabbing a butter knife and threatening to kill her at their home, WFTV reported.

The incident was captured on a deputy’s body camera, the television station reported.

Investigators said Smith grabbed his mother’s cellphone from her hand and was holding it when deputies arrived at the home.

According to deputies, when they handcuffed Smith, he coughed toward them and threatened to “bash their (expletive) brains in.”

“I hope you catch corona,” Smith could be heard telling a deputy from the back seat of a patrol car. “I hope the coronavirus -- I hope it latches on to you. I hope it makes you puke. I hope you die.”

He is then heard on body-worn camera video repeatedly coughing, WFTV reported.

"If any of my deputies get sick after this, I'm going to hold this scumbag personally responsible," Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a tweet Sunday. "Can't say I'm surprised a grown man with such little respect for his mother would also show this much hatred for law enforcement. Maybe they will teach him to cover his mouth in jail."

Smith was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, tampering with a witness, robbery by sudden snatching, grand theft, assault on a law enforcement officer, corruption by threat against a public official and violation of probation on an original charge of aggravated battery on a pregnant person.

Smith was taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he is being held without bail, WFTV reported.