Staff Report
Loyall Police Chief Mike Lunsford responded to a burglary complaint Wednesday afternoon leading to the arrest of a former Middlesboro man on numerous felony and misdemeanor charges.
Robby Joe Johnson, 30, was arrested and lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center on a host of indictment warrants from Bell County and on new felony and misdemeanor charges filed by Lunsford after Wednesday’s incident.
His previous address was listed as Middlesboro, but he apparently had been residing at an apartment on Chad Street with his girlfriend in Loyall.
Lunsford said he received a call concerning a possible burglary. Upon arrival, he questioned two individuals who had crawled out of a window of an apartment which is believed to belong to Johnson’s girlfriend. Lunsford said he wasn’t able to put the name to the face, but recognized one of the subjects who then gave him a false name and address.
While questioning the subjects, he said the story did not add up and Johnson became “a little irate.” Lunsford said he pulled his tazer and called for assistance from the Harlan Police Department.
About that time, Johnson took off on foot. Lunsford used his tazer, hitting the subject with one of two probes. Johnson was able to continue fleeing as Lunsford pursued him. Johnson darted in front of traffic on KY 840, continuing through the community park, jumped over the embankment and hit the holding pond area of the rerouted Cumberland River, said Lunsford.
“About the time I heard him hit the water, the Harlan police officer and the sheriff’s deputy arrived. The Harlan officer went to the other side of the river, but by then Evarts Police Officer Owen Noe who lives on the other side had spotted him and saw him return to the bank and where he hid.”
“We then subdued him and handcuffed him,” said Lunsford.
Numerous other officers responded to assist with the apprehension when the call for assistance was made.
Lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center without bond, he is charged on the Bell County indictment warrants for two counts of theft of identity without consent, theft by unlawful taking, second-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, a prescription controlled substance not in the proper container and second-degree persistent felony offender. He also was served with a bench warrant for failure to appear in court in Bell County.
Following Wednesday afternoon’s incident, four new Class D felony charges were filed. These include theft of identity without consent, giving a law enforcement officer a false name and address, first-degree fleeing or evading on foot, first-degree wanton endangerment.
Lunsford also charged him with three misdemeanor charges of menacing, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct second degree.
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