Joshua Johnson, who was wanted in a February hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian, makes a first appearance Wednesday morning, April 5, 2017, in Clark County Superior Court. (Ariane Kunze/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
A Vancouver man wanted in a February hit-and-run of a pedestrian who later had his left leg amputated told a judge Wednesday morning that he’s a changed man.
“I wouldn’t be any risk to other people, your honor. I really have changed my life,” Joshua Allen Johnson said while addressing his bail. “This accident really messed me up.”
He was arrested late Tuesday afternoon by Vancouver police on multiple outstanding warrants and was booked into the Clark County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.
Johnson — the son of Shaun Johnson, who was twice convicted in a 2013 crash that cost a Battle Ground teen his lower right leg — was wanted in the Minnehaha area crash that severely injured 34-year-old Paul P. Adams.
Victim's mother talks to media
Nancy Peterson talked with media Wednesday about the arrest of the alleged hit-and-run driver who struck her son, Paul Adams, on Feb. 20 while he was walking along the road in the Minnehaha area. Read our related story on her press conference regarding the hit-and-run incident.
Adams’ mother, Nancy Peterson, told The Columbian from the hospital Wednesday afternoon that her son’s lower left leg was amputated about a week ago.
Joshua Johnson, 31, appeared in Superior Court on suspicion of hit-and-run resulting in injury and in a separate case for possession of methamphetamine.
Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Bartlett said Johnson had three arrest warrants and a history of bail jumping, in addition to multiple felony convictions.
Judge Daniel Stahnke set Johnson’s bail at a total of $350,000 between the two cases and ordered that he not have contact with Adams, whom he had allegedly called at the hospital while on the run. He will be arraigned April 14.
Sheriff’s detectives say Johnson was driving a red 2002 Nissan Sentra that struck Adams as he walked along the shoulder in the 4100 block of Northeast 54th Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. Feb. 20.
Adams was discovered lying severely injured along the road by a passer-by and was transported via ambulance to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
The southbound vehicle fled the scene, but debris left behind led investigators to believe that a Nissan sedan was involved. Officers who were checking in with someone on supervised release located the suspect vehicle Feb. 21 at a residence in Vancouver’s Truman neighborhood, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Superior Court.
Facebook messages
Police discovered the car was registered to a man in Battle Ground. When they contacted him, he explained that he had traded the Nissan to Johnson for his 1994 Acura Integra on Feb. 19, the affidavit states. The transaction was in part carried out over Facebook.
A warrant served on Johnson’s Facebook accounts reportedly turned up several messages about the hit-and-run crash. Court records show that one friend messaged Johnson on Feb. 20 and wrote, “Josh what’s up with you bro Kayla called me and said you got in an accident she doesn’t know if you hit a car or person you need to call me let me know what’s going on how are you doing.”
Another friend messaged Johnson on Feb. 22 and wrote, “I told you to move your (expletive) car away from my place last night.” And on Feb. 23, Kayla McMullen, who was allegedly a passenger in Johnson’s car at the time of the crash, messaged him and said, “Hey dude just so you know the thing that we hit the other night was a person … and the only reason I know that is because it was one of my friends and he was on the same road that we (were on) when he got hit,” according to court documents.
Adams told police March 6 that a friend of Johnson’s contacted him via Facebook and said he had someone who wanted to talk to him. A man, whom he believed to be Johnson, got on the phone and apologized for hitting him and leaving the scene. Adams said Johnson told him he felt bad and was expecting to go back to prison, court records state.
McMullen told detectives that Johnson had picked her up Feb. 19, and they drove to a warehouse near the Grand Central Station shopping center off of state Highway 14 to buy methamphetamine, the affidavit states. She said she didn’t know if Johnson had used any methamphetamine. They then drove to a neighborhood not far from the crash scene, where they parked and talked for about an hour, court records said.
Afterward, Johnson started driving south on Northeast 54th Avenue to drop off McMullen when the crash occurred. She said she was looking down when Johnson hit something, causing the windshield to cave in and strike her on the head, cutting her, according to court documents.
McMullen said she told Johnson to stop but he wouldn’t. He continued driving south, running a red light at state Highway 500 and then turned west on Northeast 34th Street, where he stopped and McMullen got out of the car, the affidavit said.
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