A Delaware, Ohio, man has been charged with a felony weapons offence after an Ohio Wesleyan University student reported being threatened with a gun in the early hours of Monday, October 26, according to the Delaware Source, which reported both the police account and a criminal complaint filed the same day in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. Alphonso Jai Johnson, 50, was charged with having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony.

Source: Delaware Source — follow-up report, court complaint and affidavit

Delaware Police Chief Adam Moore told the Delaware Source that officers were sent to Smith Hall East on the Ohio Wesleyan campus at about 1:30 a.m. to speak with a student who had been out for a walk. The student said a man approached him in front of 72 Spring Street, showed firearms, produced a firearm and threatened him. The student left, no one was injured, and he reported it to Ohio Wesleyan public safety, who brought in city police, Moore said.

Source: Delaware Source — initial report, Chief Adam Moore

What the affidavit alleges

According to the probable-cause affidavit reported by the Delaware Source, Johnson allegedly asked the student whether he knew any female students interested in buying cocaine, set down a bottle of liquor, showed a wallet holding a large amount of cash, and lifted his shirt to reveal two firearms, one on each side of his waist. The student told police Johnson then allegedly pulled out a gun, cocked it and pointed it toward him, and allegedly said, 'If you send the police, I will shoot you.' Those details are the student's account as recorded in the affidavit; they are allegations, not findings.

Police served a search warrant at 72 Spring Street at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, with the Delaware Tactical Team assisting, and took Johnson into custody without incident, Moore said. Officers recovered guns at the home, and Moore said the incident no longer posed a threat to nearby residents. Other individuals at the property were briefly detained while police worked out what had happened, he said.

50Age of Alphonso Jai Johnson, charged Oct. 26
2Loaded pistols the complaint says were recovered — a Ruger P95 and a Ruger RXM
1:30 a.m.Reported encounter near 72 Spring Street on Monday
8:30 a.m.Search warrant served on Spring Street on Monday

Two loaded pistols, and charges already pending

The affidavit says a search of Johnson yielded two loaded and concealed firearms, one in each of his pockets, and that he knowingly had them while a fugitive from justice and under a legal disability. The complaint specifies the two pistols as a Ruger P95 and a Ruger RXM. According to the complaint and online court records reported by the Delaware Source, Johnson was already facing two third-degree felony counts of having weapons while under disability and one third-degree felony count of cocaine possession from October 14. The affidavit also states that Johnson denied interacting with any college student on Monday and said he would continue to carry firearms. He was arrested on an active felony warrant. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

What is solid

  • Johnson, 50, was charged Oct. 26 in Delaware County Common Pleas Court with having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony
  • Police served a search warrant at 72 Spring Street at about 8:30 a.m. Monday and took him into custody without incident, Chief Moore said
  • No one was injured in the reported 1:30 a.m. encounter, the chief said

What is only claimed

  • The gun-pointing, the alleged threat and the cocaine question come from the student's account in the affidavit; the affidavit says Johnson denied interacting with any college student that day
Campus safety

The student reported the encounter to Ohio Wesleyan public safety at Smith Hall East, where the university's public safety offices are located, and city police took over from there, Chief Moore said.