Suspect denies felony assault charges
Published 7:35 pm Monday, December 10, 2012
An Austin man arrested on a warrant after a lengthy foot chase on Nov. 21 has pleaded not guilty to three felonies and two gross misdemeanor charges in Mower County Court.
Ronald Johnson, 37, pleaded not guilty in Mower County Court Monday to three counts of felony domestic assault and two counts of interfering with a 911 call.
Police arrested Johnson on a warrant in November after they chased him through the 500 block of 11th Avenue SW and eventually shocked him with a stun gun.
Police originally went to arrest Johnson on Sept. 2 on a domestic disturbance call. Johnson allegedly grabbed a woman by the throat and lifted her off the ground after she tried to break up an argument. Johnson then ripped a phone cord out of the wall while another person tried to call 911, according to the court complaint. Johnson also tackled a woman who tried to make another 911 call from a cell phone. When police arrived, Johnson had already reportedly left on a bicycle.
Several months ago, Johnson was charged for second-degree domestic assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic assault, two counts of terroristic threats and fifth-degree assault after he allegedly threatened to hurt a girl. According to the court complaint, the girl called a friend to get her because Johnson was violent and wielding a knife and broke some of her belongings.
Johnson has a pretrial on March 28, 2013.