By Tony Holt
tony.holt@news-jrnl.com
PALM COAST — Jared Parkey’s SUV
had been forced off the road by another motorist after he hurled a gallon-sized
water jug at that person’s vehicle.
Parkey got out and walked
toward the back of his SUV and saw Nathaniel David Juratovac aiming a gun at
him.
Parkey extended his arms to the
side to let Juratovac know he was unarmed.
Juratovac shot him twice in the
chest.
That was the account Parkey
gave to investigators with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, according to
court documents.
Juratovac, 41, is scheduled to
be sentenced Friday afternoon in a St. Augustine courtroom. He pleaded no
contest last month to one count of attempted manslaughter with a firearm. He
faces up to 15 years in prison.
Parkey, a Flagler County
firefighter, was released from the hospital the morning after the March 29,
2013, shooting along U.S. 1 in St. Augustine Shores.
Juratovac, a former Flagler
Beach police officer, was arrested at the scene.
Each man had his wife and a
child with him during the incident, deputies said. Juratovac’s wife, a St.
Johns County deputy, was one of the witnesses who called 9-1-1.
The incident started when
Juratovac “brake checked” Parkey because he thought he was following too
closely, deputies said. Parkey responded by throwing a jug at Juratovac’s
vehicle. The two SUVs collided and both vehicles swerved off the highway and
stopped, according to the arrest reports.
The shooting took place seconds
later, deputies said.
Juratovac originally was
charged with attempted murder and Circuit Judge J. Michael Traynor denied bail
following the defendant’s first request.
The defendant remained in a
Clay County jail under protective custody.
Juratovac, his wife and his
father all wrote to Traynor last spring asking for bail to be set. The judge
would eventually set bail at $300,000. Juratovac posted it and was released
after 84 days behind bars.
In his letter, Juratovac, a father
to three daughters, pleaded with the judge to allow him to return to his family
and his power-washing business, which he described as “operational, however
struggling.”
In the same letter to the
judge, Juratovac said after he resigned from his job as a police officer, he
allowed his concealed weapons license to expire because he no longer chose to
carry a weapon.
He also said business owners
and others in the community would vouch for him and insist that his charges
“are completely out of character” for him.
Juratovac stated his actions
were “in response to numerous acts of violence presented upon me, my wife and
our 4-year-old daughter.”
In the next sentence, he
revealed his intentions to pray for Parkey’s recovery.
“He can now reflect upon that
day and be with his family,” Juratovac stated in his letter.
He also conveyed his intention
at the time to contest the allegations that were included in the charging
affidavit. He entered his plea less than eight months later.
Juratovac resigned from the
Flagler Beach Police Department in June 2008, one month after he stood trial on
allegations of perjury. The judge in the case threw out the charge based on
unreliable testimony from one of the prosecution’s witnesses
That case stemmed from his
highly publicized arrest of Lisa Tanner, daughter of former State Attorney John
Tanner.
In his letter to the judge,
Juratovac pointed out the judge in that case described his actions as those of
a “seasoned officer” and his former chief described his record as “exemplary.”
However, the chief at the time
of Juratovac’s trial sent a letter to the then-city manager requesting that
Juratovac be fired in spite of his acquittal.
That request was denied, but
Juratovac agreed to resign.
Juratovac has declined
interview requests while his case remains active.
