UPDATE: Prosecutors brought one count of first-degree robbery, a class A felony, against Johannessen Monday, per a criminal complaint filed in Kitsap County.
Forty-year-old Joshua J. Johannessen was scheduled to appear in court at 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon, after police say he stole a truck at knifepoint Friday morning, tried to skirt barriers at Naval Base Kitsap and crashed into a utility pole.
Johannessen had his young daughter with him during the incident, police said, which lasted approximately three hours from the time the vehicle was reported stolen to Johannessen’s arrest, reported at 2:42 p.m. by Naval Base Kitsap. The child, who police said is around five years old, was taken to Harrison Medical Center with superficial injuries and has since been reunited with other family members, according to BPD Detective Keith Sargent.
A criminal record search in Kitsap County shows no prior convictions for Johannessen, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs during the incident, Sargent said. A search warrant for a blood test was issued.
“His statements were consistent with someone who had been using meth,” Sargent said. “He seemed paranoid and had gotten little sleep.”
Police say Johannessen stole a 2007 Ford Ranger at knifepoint Friday morning, reported around 11:42 a.m.
Isana Solis had been pumping gas at a Mobil on Wheaton Way when a man she did not know asked for a ride for he and his daughter, she told the Kitsap News Group in an interview.
She agreed, but things took a violent turn inside the vehicle. Johannessen allegedly attacked Solis with a knife, as his daughted pleaded “no,” Solis said.
Solis was not injured, police said, but her jacket had holes in it consistent with her report, according to Detective Sargent.
About an hour and a half later, video taken at the entrance to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor shows the Ford Ranger crumpled and smoking after an apparent collision with a utility pole outside the base. A man can be seen tumbling out of the vehicle along with a young girl.
Witness Heather Nix, a 31-year-old who lives on base, said she saw the vehicle blow past the security checkpoint.
“The truck basically drove on the embankment around the barriers and smashed right into the pole,” she said. “He said something to police that made them run away and hide behind their cars.”
With weapons drawn, police exchanged words with Johannessen, they said, who was at times not making sense. At one point he mentioned a bomb, Sargent said, which caused police to quickly back up and take cover. There was no bomb, police confirmed.
Police initially recommended charges of first-degree assault and robbery as well as reckless endangerment, DUI and second-degree theft against Johannessen.
In a criminal complaint Monday, county prosecutors brought one charge of first degree robbery while armed with a deadline weapon, a class A felony punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Gabe Stutman is a reporter with the Kitsap News Group. Follow him on Twitter @kitsapgabe.