Donald Johnson Jr., 54, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with six counts of aggravated assault upon a utility service employee with a firearm, which are felonies.
Johnson is a police officer with the Baton Rouge Police Dept.
Officials say four utility workers were in Johnson’s backyard digging holes for fiber optic cable when Johnson allegedly came out of the house with a gun and pointed it at them. According to arresting documents, while “pointing the gun at them, he stated, ‘Don’t move’ and that they were not supposed to be there.”
The utility workers said all the workers had dug holes in Johnson’s backyard but that Johnson “told the victims to fill the holes in and get off his property, to which they complied.”
One of the victims then called her supervisor at the utility company. A short time later, two supervisors arrived but as they were walking up the driveway, Johnson allegedly pointed the gun at them. The supervisors stopped walking up the driveway and Johnson allegedly told the utility workers again to fill in the holes and went back inside the home.
Officials said the utility workers had on bright orange and yellow clothing with shovels in their hands to dig holes. The supervisors who were walking up the driveway were also clearly marked wearing shirts with the utility company logo identifying their employer. Officials added all six victims’ stories matched.
Johnson told East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputies that he was armed with a gun but that he never removed it from his holster. He added that he never told the utility workers to get off his property when he saw them in the backyard.
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