Katie Johnson

Name of Accused:
Johnson, Katie Latisha

Date of Arrest:
12/21/2024


Charges For Arrest:
THEFT BY SHOPLIFTING – M
OBSTRUCTION – M
DISORDERLY CONDUCT – M
POSSESSION OF A SCHEDULE II CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE – F
FAILURE TO APPEAR – F
FAILURE TO APPEAR – F
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On 12/21/24, at 17:21, I was conducting an area patrol for the Target/ Depot Shopping Center when I was approached by Target Loss Prevention, informing me they had a shoplifter inside the store.
I notified dispatch and waited for Mr. [WITNESS ] to notify me if the shoplifting suspect was leaving the store or if the other loss prevention team members were escorting the suspect to the loss prevention office. Mr. [WITNESS ] said they had been watching a black female on camera for the past 1.5 to 2 hours. He said they observed the female wearing a black bubble jacket with hood, later identified as Ms. Katie Johnson, load up a shopping cart with items, move to a less crowded area of the start, and watched her place the items inside shopping bags that Ms. Johnson brought with her into the store, concealed inside her purse. Staff also said Ms. Johnson seemed to be falling asleep on her feet and they believed she was high on some type of drug. Mr. [WITNESS ] said Ms. Johnson was taking so long inside the store, the 1.5 to 2 hours, was because she would walk around to the next isle, load a few items into shopping bags, then stand there in a daze or half asleep.
Mr. [WITNESS ] told me Ms. Johnson was leaving the store and we made our way to the front doors. As we got close, he pointed out Ms. Johnson. He pointed out a black female wearing the black bubble jacket, black jean pants, and black boots. I observed her start walking toward Depot. As I was walking past the front doors of Target, the manager was standing there, also pointing at Ms. Johnson. I asked if she took anything and he said they stopped her at the door and she dumped the shopping cart. I saw the shopping cart turned over on the floor of the entrance behind him with plain white shopping bags falling out of the cart.
I caught up with Ms. Johnson, grabbing ahold of her purse strap she had across her body, telling her to stop, identifying myself as police, and telling her she was under arrest. Ms. Johnson immediately started pulling away from me. I moved her to put her in between myself and a nearby fence and attempted to place her in handcuffs. Ms. Johnson continued to pull away from me. Ms. Johnson started saying that she was pregnant, so I did not try to take her to the ground at this point. I told her to stop resisting and again told her that she was under arrest. I managed to get one of her hands cuffed and that was when she increased her efforts to get away from me. She started to spin out from between me and the fence and continued to pull away from me. She continued to shout that she was pregnant. She also started to push off from me with her free hand.
I managed to hold onto the handcuff I had secured to Ms. Johnson’s one wrist to keep her from pulling away from me. I moved Ms. Johnson back against the fence and pinned her to the fence by placing my right forearm across her chest just below her collar bone. I held her there and radioed for assistance. During my struggle with Ms. Johnson, she knocked my BWC off the magnetic mount on my outer carrier vest. While I had Ms. Johnson pinned to the fence, start started to yell that I was choking her with my forearm. Each time, she would take a deep breath before yelling to bystanders to hear that I was choking her and that she couldn’t breath. She started to slide down the fence in an attempt to get her neck against my forearm. I then removed my forearm from pinning her against the fence. She continued to yell the entire time, trying to get a reaction from bystanders.
An officer from Thunderbolt was first to arrive and helped me finish securing Ms. Johnson and he also retrieved my BWC. More officers arrived and Ms. Johnson was re-cuffed in double locked handcuffs that were checked for proper fit. While securing Ms. Johnson in handcuffs, a plastic bag was discovered in her clenched right fist. Inside this bag was a white powder. The powder was taking to the property room by Ofc. Morrow and field tested. It tested positive for Fentanyl and weighed .55 grams.
After Ms. Johnson was secured in double locked handcuffs, she began to shout obscenities and racial slurs at all officers and bystanders on scene. Her remarks were recorded on body worn camera.
Supervisors responded to the scene.
A of Ms. Johnson’s purse resulting in the discovery of more items taken from Target. The store manager confirmed the items were taken and provided separate receipts for both the items in the shopping cart and the items found in the purse. The grand total for both receipts comes to $297.17 Photos of both receipts were taken and uploaded to Axon Capture.
I then transported Ms. Johnson to Memorial Medical Center for medical clearance. I was met by Ofc. Poston at the ambulance bay. After Ms. Johnson was cleared, Ofc. Poston took custody of Ms. Johnson and transported her to the jail, where she was booked without incident. While being medically cleared, Ms. Johnson admitted that she was not pregnant. She said she only claimed she was to stop me from slamming her on the ground.
[End of Narrative]