Staff Reports
A man allegedly led police on a wild foot chase throughout Gallup after getting into a car accident, all with children in tow.
On Aug. 27, around 8:15 pm, Gallup Police Officer Ryan Boucher was dispatched to the California Chinese Fast Food, 1020 W. Maloney Ave., after someone called Metro Dispatch about a suspicious vehicle, a white Dodge Charger, parked on the north side of the business that had been parked there a long time.
The caller said there was a lot of foot traffic around the vehicle, and that there were six or seven people inside it.
When Boucher arrived at the scene he reportedly saw a man who was later identified as Julian Johnson, 33, run from behind the side of the building to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Johnson hopped into the vehicle, and as he did so Boucher told him to stop.
Instead, Johnson started the vehicle and took off, taking a right on North Tenth Street and continuing south on Maloney Avenue.
At this point, Boucher reportedly lost sight of the vehicle, and started walking back to his patrol vehicle. As he did so, he reportedly heard a loud bang. He drove east on Wilson Avenue and eventually saw the white Dodge Charger and a red Ford Bronco. The two vehicles had reportedly crashed in the middle of the intersection of Maloney Avenue and North Tenth Street.
Boucher reportedly saw three adults and three children running from the scene. One of the adults was Johnson. He was reportedly holding two of the children’s hands.
Johnson and the two children ran through a hole in a fence between Maloney Avenue and Interstate 40. Johnson reportedly continued south, crossing the west I-40 exit ramp 20, before climbing a concrete barrier with both of the children.
Officers were finally able to catch up with Johnson at the Ranchito Motel, 1009 W. Coal Ave., and they arrested him. Metro Dispatch informed them that Johnson had an active warrant out for his arrest.
Johnson was transported to a local hospital for a medical clearance, then he was placed under for three counts of child abuse (putting children in a dangerous situation), abandonment of a child, resisting arrest, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a vehicle, and three counts of no child restraint in a vehicle.
His second preliminary hearing for all these new charges is scheduled for Oct. 14 in Gallup Magistrate Court.
