BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2025) — Boca Raton police arrested a subcontracted paving worker last week after officers say he held a pocketknife to a coworker’s ribs and later to the man’s throat during an assignment off North Dixie Highway, according to an arrest affidavit.
Craig Michael Johnson, 55, was taken into custody on Nov. 17 and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Officers responded around 9:23 a.m. to the CVS at 202 W. Yamato Road, where the victim had gone to call for help.
The victim, a coworker who speaks only Spanish, told police the two had been sent to work at 7200 N. Dixie Highway as part of a job for General Asphalt, one of the city’s paving subcontractors. He said that after they arrived, he stepped out of their work truck and asked Johnson to unload some signage. Johnson then allegedly climbed out holding a black pocketknife and pointed it toward the man’s ribs.
The victim said he told Johnson to calm down and warned that he would call police. According to the affidavit, Johnson then placed the knife against the victim’s throat, causing him to fear he was about to be killed. Officers noted the man was crying while giving his statement and had a panic reaction at the scene; Boca Raton Fire Rescue responded and assessed him.
Johnson later agreed to speak with officers after being read his Miranda rights. He told police he and the victim were friends who often joked around and that he pulled the knife “as a joke,” using what he claimed was the back side of the blade. He said he didn’t believe the victim was truly afraid and didn’t understand why police were being contacted.
The two continued working after the incident and rode together from the Dixie Highway site back to Yamato Road. When asked why he stayed in the truck if he feared Johnson, the victim said he wanted to reach a crowded public area before calling for help.
A landscaping supervisor at the site turned over the pocketknife to officers. Both men confirmed it was the knife used in the confrontation, and it was submitted into BRPD evidence.
Johnson was arrested at 11:15 a.m. and transported to the Boca Raton Police Department, then booked into the Palm Beach County jail. Johnson was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Nov. 17 at 1:58 p.m. and later released on Nov. 18 at 8:54 p.m. on a $20,000 bond, according to jail records.
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