This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The fugitive motorcyclist who allegedly shoved his son off his bike at a traffic stop to elude police earlier this week was in a Salt Lake County Jail cell Friday.
Brian Eddis Johnson, 42, of Millcreek, was taken into custody late Thursday night at a residence in Taylorsville by the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, a multi-agency law enforcement unit comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement officers.
FBI spokeswoman Debbie Dujanovic-Bertram said the unit, having visually confirmed Johnson's presence, knocked on the door of an apartment near 4300 S. Sunny River Road about 10 p.m. Thursday. Demands for Johnson to come out were initially ignored, but a negotiator with the Unified Police Department eventually succeeded in convincing Johnson to surrender; he was taken into custody shortly before midnight without further incident.
Johnson was being held behind bars Friday on more than $55,000 bail on suspicion of numerous felony and misdemeanor counts. Specifically, he was accused of second-degree felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute; third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and failure to stop at the command of a police officer; class A misdemeanor child abuse; class C misdemeanor driving of a motor vehicle while prohibited; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
His arrest — generated by an anonymous tip, according to Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. Mark Askerlund — came two days after Johnson was pulled over by a Cottonwood Heights motorcycle officer on suspicion of speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When the officer approached, Johnson allegedly pushed his 13-year-old son off the rear of the seat of his bike, telling him to run, and then sped away.
Police later learned that Johnson was wanted on an arrest warrant for alleged possession of a controlled substance.
The 13-year-old was not injured. Police found Johnson's bike and clothing at a Millcreek residence, but the suspect remained at large until Thursday night.
Dujanovic-Bertram said a 51-year-old woman, Sherryl Floye Crichton, also was arrested at the Taylorsville apartment Thursday night. She was booked into jail on suspicion of third-degree felony aiding an escape, and then released on her own recognizance, jail records show. Dujanovic-Bertram did not know the nature of her relationship to Johnson.