Deputy foils armed kidnapping

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man is charged with allegedly kidnapping the mother of his child at gunpoint on Tuesday night.

Damon Eugene Johnson was ordered held on Wednesday in lieu of $75,000 bail after being charged with second-degree kidnapping, aggravated assault, trespassing and domestic battery, court records show.

Bonner County Sheriff’s deputies were summoned to a home in the 400 block of Winterton Road after receiving a report of suspicious circumstances at about 9:30 p.m.

Johnson, 35, of Spokane, had been trespassed from the property earlier in the day but had returned and was armed with a pistol, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case. Johnson and the woman used to be in a relationship, according to court documents.

The woman told deputies she was being picked up at her residence by a male acquaintance when Johnson emerged from the side of the home.

The alleged victim said Johnson walked in front of the Isuzu Trooper as they were departing.

The male acquaintance got out of the sport utility vehicle in order to speak with Johnson, but saw that he had a pistol, the affidavit said.

The alleged victim said she moved to the driver’s seat and attempted to drive off, but Johnson reached in through the window and grabbed her by the hair, put the gun to her head and said they needed to talk.

Johnson, court documents allege, pushed the woman into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel.

The woman said that she grabbed the weapon from his lap as they drove and Johnson shifted the vehicle’s gear into park, causing the wheels to lock up and the vehicle to crash into a ditch.

Johnson allegedly took the woman by the arm and the two began walking from the crash scene.

Deputy Joseph Scholten responded to the call via Colburn Culver Road and spotted a pickup truck with people inside. Suspicious that it could be Johnson, Scholten began looking for a place to turn around and came upon the crashed SUV.

Scholten doubled back and conducted a felony traffic stop on the pickup, which held Johnson and the woman, the affidavit said.

A preliminary hearing in the case is pending.