By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A Perdido man, recognized as fitting the description of a man who is the subject of several outstanding arrest warrants, had two felony charges tacked on after he went berserk when Atmore police tried to take him into custody.
Atmore Police Department Sgt. Darrell McMann reported that 23-year-old Joshua Tyler Johnson was arrested around 10:15 a.m. on July 20. Johnson apparently expressed his displeasure with the situation by repeatedly kicking the door of an APD patrol car, causing significant damage, then issued a death threat to a city police officer.
McMann said APD investigators tried to talk with Johnson, who fit the description of a man wanted by area authorities, as he walked near Highway 31. When the investigators activated their emergency blue lights and instructed Johnson to stop so they could speak with him, he ran away.
After a brief foot pursuit, the Perdido man was taken into custody. Shortly afterward, investigators confirmed he was wanted on several Baldwin County Sheriff’s arrest warrants.
Police placed Johnson in the rear of a marked police unit, and he began kicking the back door of the vehicle, causing “several thousand dollars” in damage. He was eventually taken to Atmore Municipal Jail, where he began to make threats against one of the officers, telling the policeman he was going to kill the officer and the officer’s family.
Johnson remained in the Escambia County Detention Center Tuesday morning, July 25, where he is charged with one count each of making terroristic threats and first-degree criminal mischief, both Class C felonies, and attempting to elude law enforcement, a misdemeanor.
According to the county jail’s website, Baldwin County authorities have not asked for a hold on Johnson.