‘Suicide by cop’ threat lands sergeant back in jail

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A Nellis Air Force Base master sergeant who had been charged with eight counts of bank robbery and was then released on house arrest -- despite his alleged threat to force police to kill him -- was ordered back to jail Tuesday.

Kevin Jay Johnson, 40, will remain jailed until his trial, U.S. District Judge David Hagen ruled after an FBI agent testified in federal court Tuesday about Johnson's alleged plan to commit "suicide by cop."

In light of that, Hagen said, Johnson should be considered a danger to the community, so he ordered Johnson into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

"I heard clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is addicted to gambling, that he found this addiction overwhelming and that an FBI agent believes he was serious when he talked about suicide by cop," Hagen said.

Hagen said that U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben, who is assigned to the case, could reconsider releasing Johnson if new information, such as a professional psychiatric evaluation of Johnson, becomes available.

In agreeing with prosecutors that Johnson should be jailed, Hagen overruled U.S. Magistrate Lawrence Leavitt. Earlier this month, Leavitt had released Johnson, placing him on house arrest and electronic monitoring.

During the hearing before Leavitt, Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Marsh and an FBI agent in the courtroom failed to tell the judge that Johnson allegedly told FBI Special Agent Dean Abbott of a plan to provoke police into killing him.

Abbott testified that he interviewed Johnson on Oct. 12, four days after his arrest by Metro Police and FBI agents who followed an electronic tracking device stashed in stolen bank money to Johnson's car.

"He felt his gambling problem was overwhelming and that he wanted to end it in some way," Abbott said of Johnson while testifying Tuesday. "He said if he got pulled over he would take a gun out and take part in 'suicide by cop' as a way to end his bank robbery spree."

Investigators found three pellet guns in Johnson's car after his arrest, Abbott said.

A federal indictment charges Johnson in a string of eight bank robberies in Las Vegas and Henderson in the past four months. The robberies netted Johnson more than $10,200 between June 17 and Oct. 8, authorities allege.

Johnson, who appeared in court wearing an Air Force camouflage uniform, turned to three other Air Force personnel in the courtroom after Hagen had issued his order and asked that they pray for him.

Johnson's attorney, William Carrico, argued that Johnson was being watched 24 hours a day by a group of staff sergeants at Nellis and was enrolled in counseling for problem gamblers.

"He doesn't go anywhere without one of these staff sergeants," Carrico said. "He has shown himself not to be a danger to himself or others."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Schiess told Hagen that he felt Johnson had put himself in a desperate situation and that he was a danger to himself, police officers and the community.

Tuesday's hearing was the third time that the possible detention of Johnson had been brought before a federal judge. Last week Johnson appeared before U.S. Magistrate Peggy Leen to face the charges in the indictment.

At the hearing Leen questioned whether she had the legal authority to rescind Leavitt's release order and released Johnson under the same conditions Leavitt had imposed, adding that Johnson was forbidden from entering a gambling establishment, the prosecution's appeal states.

If convicted, Johnson faces up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the eight bank robbery charges.

The robberies include three Nevada State Bank branches in Las Vegas, one Bank of the West branch in Henderson, three Wells Fargo branches in Las Vegas and one First National Bank branch in Las Vegas.

Carrico said Johnson has been in the Air Force for nearly 20 years and spent about half that time as a firearms instructor. He said that his relationship with his family is strong and that his wife moved to Fernley for a job. Johnson had planned to move to Fernley after retiring from the Air Force, Carrico said.