Fire Dept. Lieutenant’s Been In Trouble With Law Before
Canon City Fire Department Lieutenant Erik Johnson’s recent fight with a homeless man was one of a couple mistakes his friends say he made, but They call him a nice guy.
Neither they, nor Johnson would comment on camera for this story.
Colorado’s Court database shows in 2002 Johnson pled guilty to 2 assault cases. He had another assault conviction in 2009 for a domestic violence case. All three of the convictions were misdemeanors.
This latest assault charge he’s facing is a felony. He’s also charged with drunk driving and this isn?t the first time for that either.
In January of 2010 Johnson was also arrested after drinking and driving. He pled guilty to driving while ability impaired. The court record shows he served 20 days in jail, a year’s probation, some fines and community service time.
Canon City Fire Chief didn’t want to talk on camera, but told Target 13 he didn’t know about the previous convictions. DelVecchio is moved to Colorado 6 months ago to take over the chief job in Canon City and was not here when Johnson’s previous convictions happened.
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CANON CITY, Colo. — A high ranking Caon City firefighter is facing felony assault and drunk driving charges.
Lt. Erik Johnson is also the Fire Chief of the Tallahassee Volunteer Fire Department in Fremont County.
He was advised of the charges against him in Fremont County Court in Caon City Wednesday afternoon. He told KRDO Newschannel 13 he had no comment after the hearing.
The charges stem from an incident on September 27, on Macon Street in Caon.
According to witnesses and police reports, Johnson was driving his pickup and almost hit a bicyclist. The bicyclist yelled an expletive, which was apparently enough to get Johnson to stop his truck and come back.
“The guy in the truck slammed on his brakes put the truck in park and he actually jumped out of the truck,” Joe Burris, an eyewitness to the incident, told KRDO Newschannel 13, “(Johnson) ran over to the guy grabbed him, threw him off his bicycle and then the fight was on.”
The victim suffered serious injuries, according to the police report.
3 witnesses, including Burris, say Johnson then drove away. They gave Caon City Police the licenses plate number. They found Johnson at his home hiding in a tree. They say they found him because they heard him talking on his cell phone.
Police also say Johnson told them he was the victim. He then tried to run from them, but they fired off a taser. It hit the jacket he was wearing, but did not hit him. After that, though, he did stop running.
Caon City Fire Chief Dave DelVecchio told KRDo Newschannel 13 an internal investigation is underway. He also says they won’t make any decisions on any possible punitive action until the criminal case is over.
For now, Johnson is still on the job at the Caon City Fire Department where he is paid around $64,000 annually.
