CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — Continuances for a plea hearing were issued for a Clarion man charged in multiple cases that include a porta-potty robbery in Clarion, an incident of theft from a car in Clarion, and terroristic threats made against a police officer.
Jonathan William Johnston, 25, was scheduled for a special plea hearing on Wednesday, October 20; however, motions for continuance in the cases were granted.
Clarion County Assistant Public Defender Heather Deloe asked for the continuances on Tuesday, October 19.
A criminal conference is set for Wednesday, November 17, for Johnston’s cases, as follows:
Theft of a wallet from a motor vehicle last December:
– Theft From A Motor Vehicle, Misdemeanor 2
– Receiving Stolen Property, Misdemeanor 2
– Loitering And Prowling At Night Time, Misdemeanor 3
– Theft From A Motor Vehicle, Misdemeanor 3
– Receiving Stolen Property, Misdemeanor 3
Porta-potty robbery in June of this year:
– Robbery-Threat Immediate Serious Injury, Felony 3
– Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Misdemeanor 2
– Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 2
– Tamper With/Fabricate Physical Evidence, Misdemeanor 2
The following charges against Johnston regarding the porta-potty robbery were dismissed:
– Robbery-Threat Immediate Serious Injury, Felony 1
– Indecent Assault Forcible Compulsion, Misdemeanor 1
– Simple Assault, Misdemeanor 2
Threats against a police officer following the arraignment for the porta-potty incident:
– Terroristic Threats With Intent To Terrorize Another, Misdemeanor 1
– Disorder Conduct Obscene Language/Gesture, Summary
Retail theft on April 1 of this year:
– Retail Theft, Felony 3
Johnston remains incarcerated at Clarion County Jail.
Details of December car theft:
According to a criminal complaint, around 12:45 a.m. on December 3, 2020, Clarion Borough Police were dispatched to a residence on 7th Avenue for a report of a white male wearing a Steelers jacket breaking into vehicles. A known victim reported that her wallet, a brown wallet with CCS on the front of it, was stolen from her vehicle.
While police were en route, they spotted a man matching the given description on Maronee Street, and the man was then stopped at the intersection of Maronee and East 8th Street. The man was identified as Jonathan Johnston, the complaint states.
Johnston was advised of why he was being stopped, and he reportedly denied breaking into any vehicles. However, he also advised he had warrants out for his arrest, the complaint indicates.
Police then asked for and were granted Johnson’s consent to look in the backpack he was carrying while detaining him and awaiting confirmation on the warrants. Clarion County OES was able to confirm Johnson had warrants out of Clarion County, and he was then placed under arrest, searched, and placed in a patrol vehicle, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Johnson then advised police he needed to go to the emergency room for a medical issue and was transported to Clarion Hospital. While at the hospital, Johnson indicated he wanted to speak with Clarion Borough Police Chief William Peck and said that “he was the only one that could help him since being honest with him would help.”
When Johnson’s jacket was later searched, police found items that were reported stolen from the vehicle, including the stolen wallet, in the incident. The items were then logged into evidence and secured, according to the complaint.
Details of porta-potty robbery:
According to a criminal complaint, around 9:34 a.m. on Friday, June 25, Clarion Borough Police were dispatched to a known business in Clarion Borough for a report of theft of a wallet.
Police then spoke to a known victim who initially reported that he had arrived at the business and purchased items with cash from his wallet, placed his wallet back into his pocket, and someone stole it from his pocket.
Police then reviewed video surveillance from inside the business.
According to the complaint, the video footage showed that Jonathan Johnston, who police recognized from previous investigations, and David Lang had been inside the store playing a poker machine, and Johnston had spoken to the victim before walking out of the door. The video showed the victim following Johnston and both individuals then entering a porta-potty on the south side of the store. Johnston then exited the porta-potty approximately two minutes later, and the victim exited a minute after that.
Police then interviewed the victim a second time.
The complaint states the victim then told police that when Johnston was exiting the store, he had asked the victim to hold a bag of items he purchased while he went to use the restroom. The victim said when they got to the porta-potty, Johnson told him to go inside or else he “would hurt him.”
The victim reported once they were inside the porta-potty, Johnston told him to pull down his pants. He told police Johnston then reached down and rubbed his genitals. He reported that he told Johnston to stop, but Johnston continued, then reached down and took his wallet from his pocket before leaving the porta-potty, according to the complaint.
The complaint notes the victim reported there was somewhere between $60.00 and $100.00 cash in the wallet.
Police then reviewed more of the footage from the incident and discovered that while Johnston and the victim were inside the porta-potty, Lang opened the trunk of a black Hyundai Tiburon and placed an article of clothing over the license plate in an attempt to obstruct the view of it. However, police were able to obtain the plate number from the footage prior to when Lang obstructed it.
Police then responded to Lang’s residence and took him into custody.
The complaint notes that a search incident to arrest found he had a black zipper container in his front pocket that was found to contain a glass meth pipe and a small ziplock baggie of suspected methamphetamine.
Lang reportedly told police he had just dropped Johnston off at his residence, and police then went to Johnston’s residence in an attempt to contact him.
When they arrived, Johnston was reportedly standing in the driveway. Johnston then saw the officers, ran over to a container with a fire in it in the backyard, and sprayed accelerant onto the fire. One of the officers ran over and kicked the contents of the fire in an attempt to preserve any possible evidence in it, the complaint indicates.
The officers then placed Johnston into custody.
Johnston attempted to pull away from the officers and said: “he sexually assaulted me, he held me down and took my pants off then took his off.” However, when police noted the difficulty of holding someone down while taking both pairs of pants off, Johnston reportedly said the victim didn’t get his pants “completely off.” He also told the officers they “couldn’t” arrest him because they “didn’t find the wallet,” according to the complaint.
Johnston was then placed in a police vehicle for transport to the Clarion Borough Police Department.
Clarion Borough Police Chief William Peck was able to retrieve what is believed to be the remnants of a wallet from the fire, the complaint notes.
According to the complaint, Lang voluntarily spoke to police and reported that Johnston had previously robbed the same victim during the winter.
Lang reportedly told police that Johnston told him that he (Johnston) and another known male had stolen $300.00 to $400.00 from the victim during the previous incident, which also allegedly involved sexual acts between Johnston, the victim, and the other known male. Lang stated that he covered his license plate because after what Johnston had told him about the previous incident when he saw Johnston and the victim going into the porta-potty, he thought “something bad was going to happen.”
Lang told police that when Johnston exited the porta-potty, he told Lang “go, go, go,” so Lang pulled out of the parking lot. He said they then stopped at a parking lot along Main Street, and Johnston began going through the wallet. He noted Johnston was angry because the victim did not have any debit cards in the wallet. He also told police that he saw a couple of $20 bills and a couple of $10 bills in the wallet.
According to the complaint, Lang reported Johnston then told him that he had touched the victim’s genitals, pushed the victim down, and taken his wallet while they were in the porta-potty. Lang also said Johnston told him he had pounded on the side of the porta-potty in an attempt to scare the victim into not telling anyone about the incident.
Lang told police that after they left the parking lot, they traveled for a short distance on Interstate 80, and Johnston threw paper items from the wallet out of the passenger side window. He said they then exited the interstate and stopped at a gas station in Emlenton, where they put water in his vehicle, which was overheating, and played more skill machines. They then stopped at another business before proceeding back to Clarion, where Lang dropped Johnston off at his residence.
The complaint notes Lang told police he saw Johnston starting a fire in the back yard at this residence, and assumed Johnston was burning the wallet.
Lang also reportedly told police that the methamphetamine found in his pocket had been given to him by Johnston the previous day in exchange for Lang giving him a ride to work.’
Details of terroristic threats charges:
According to a criminal complaint, around 7:15 p.m. on Friday, June 25, during an arraignment at the District Court office in New Bethlehem on charges related to an incident of alleged sexual assault, Jonathan William Johnston reportedly “began to be belligerent.”
Johnston used foul language toward Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey Miller and also toward Officer Wright, of the Clarion Borough Police Department, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, after the arraignment, when Johnston was back in a Clarion Borough Police vehicle, he told Officer Wright: “Your number is up,” and also said, “I know where you live, (a known male) cut trees down at your house.”
After being advised that it would not be in his best interest to go to an officer’s home, Johnston reportedly stated: “Did you know you can hire hitmen on the dark web? You should check into that.”
Charges were filed against Johnston through Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office on July 2.
Charges against Lang
Court documents indicate 44-year-old David Lee Lang II has two pending cases against him related to a drug sting operation in January and the porta-potty robbery.
According to a criminal complaint, on January 29, CNET members met with a confidential informant (C.I.) who had been communicating with David Lee Lang II via Facebook Messenger, and the C.I. then set up a transaction with Lang to exchange $190.00 in cash for crystal methamphetamine. The C.I. was then provided with official CNET funds to make the purchase.
The complaint notes CNET members observed as the C.I. went from a vehicle to Lang’s residence in Clarion Borough, returned to the vehicle, and then met with CNET members and turned over a small plastic baggie of suspected crystal methamphetamine.
According to the complaint, testing by the Erie Regional Lab verified the bag contained 1.93 grams of methamphetamine.
Lang was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn at 2:37 p.m. on July 27 on the following charges:
– Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony
– Criminal Use Of Communication Facility, Felony 3
– Possession of Controlled Substance, Misdemeanor
– Use/Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia, Misdemeanor
Lang also faces the following charges from the porta-potty robbery:
– Conspiracy — Robbery — Taking Property by Force, Felony 3
– Conspiracy — Recklessly Endangering another Person, Misdemeanor 2
– Conspiracy — Theft By Unlawful Raking of Movable Property, Misdemeanor 2
– Use/Possession of Drug Paraphernalia — Misdemeanor
– Intentional Possession of a Controlled Substance by Person Not Registered, Misdemeanor
Lang remains lodged in Clarion County Jail.
A criminal conference for both cases is scheduled for November 3.
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