A fugitive who has been on the run since January after escaping from a minimum-security prison in Idaho Falls, was arrested in the Cane Beds area after Kanab’s own K9 dog, Brutus, cornered him in a chicken coop. The fugitive, 33-year-old Jeremiah Roland Johnson, was taken into custody on Tuesday, April 20.
Officers in Utah became involved when a tip came in to the Kane County Sheriff’s Office in Kanab, reporting Johnson was headed toward the Cane Beds area in Arizona and provided a description of the vehicle the suspect was traveling in; information that was forwarded to the Colorado City Marshal’s Office.
Once officers spotted a vehicle matching the car the suspect was reportedly traveling in, they followed it to a residence and parked nearby. The suspect ran out of the back of the residence and took off toward the desert on foot. K9 Brutus was able to get on Johnson’s foot tracks and track him to a residence approximately 1/2 mile away. Johnson attempted to flee from Deputies again, however, K9 Brutus cornered him into a chicken coop, and he surrendered without incident.
Kanab resident, Jeremy Felish, of the Mohave County Sheriffs Office, is the handler for K9 Brutus.
“Jeremy is an extremely valuable member of our K9 division. K9 Brutus is also a little under a year out from a major health scare too, so for him to be back on the beat so intensely after that is amazing,” reported Anita Mortenson, a rep for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.
The apprehension was a combined effort between the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Kanab City Police Department and Colorado City Marshall’s Office.
