Woman arrested in reported Sallisaw thefts after impersonating another

A Muldrow woman was arrested in Sallisaw on a felony count of impersonating another and is also facing three criminal misdemeanor counts of knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property after she was found to be in possession of reported stolen personal property of other individuals.

Chalon R. Johnson, 48, was charged Aug. 24 in Sequoyah County District Court and is now scheduled for a Sept. 7 felony disposition docket with Associate District Judge Kyle Waters.

Sallisaw Police officer Caleb Dotson reported on Aug. 19 at 3:15 a.m. he noticed a blue Scion pull into the Diamond Express convenience store and dispatch confirmed the Arkansas tag was expired and insurance as unconfirmed. The driver pulled up to one of the gas pumps and a male passenger got out and checked the tires and proceeded to kill time, as if allegedly trying to avoid the officer or to avoid making contact with him, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Dotson reported he moved his police unit further west in attempt to see if the vehicle would leave and notified Lt. Cody Biles of the two‚s suspicious behavior. Biles parked on the east side and he and Dotson continued to watch the vehicle to see if it would leave the gas station. From a distance, the officers watched as the man lifted the hood and began messing with the engine compartment as if he were repairing something. After some time, the man stopped messing with the car and took off walking west on Cherokee toward Dotson‚s location.

The man continued to walk until he saw the officer and then reportedly pretended to be looking around Sallisaw Inn as if he were looking for someone, and then went east on Cherokee. The man continued to walk past the vehicle that was left at the gas station with the female driver remaining unseen, according to the affidavit. The man continued walking east approaching Biles‚ location and Biles said he made contact with the male suspect as he was walking illegally on the roadway.

While Biles spoke with the male suspect, Dotson approached the vehicle and saw the female still sitting behind the driver‚s seat. Biles said the man identified himself as Kevin Hill and when asked about the female‚s name, he said he only knew her as Blondie. He then told the officer that her real name was Johnson and she had a warrant out of Arkansas.

Dotson pulled up to the driver‚s side and asked Johnson for her license and insurance and she asked why since the vehicle was not in operation on the roadway. Dotson told her he had watched the male walk away from the vehicle and the tactics he believed they‚d used to avoid making contact with police. When he asked for her information again, she told him she didn‚t have her driver‚s license with her or have a copy of the insurance. She then reportedly provided the officer a fictitious name and date of birth and the officer radioed the information into dispatch.

After Biles completed his interview with Hill, Hill was allowed to leave on foot and Biles went to Dotson‚s location. Biles then told Johnson the information she provided did not match up with the person‚s identity and asked her to step out of the vehicle but she refused to do so. She was then asked to step to the back of the vehicle and told police she didn‚t have any identification because her purse had been stolen.

The officers told Johnson that Hill had given her true identity and they knew she had confirmed warrants out of Arkansas. Johnson claimed Hill was lying and the officers were welcome to look in her vehicle to see if they could find anything with her name on it.

Police reportedly found multiple identification cards belonging to other individuals. Police also reported the ignition had been removed and a screwdriver was sitting near the console. When Dotson put the screwdriver into the steering console, it reportedly started and ran, confirming the vehicle was operational.

Some of the documents located reportedly belonged to a Sallisaw woman who had filed a theft report on Aug. 8. The woman was contacted and able to identify the items found as hers. Two other Sallisaw women‚s items were also found that had been reported stolen from their vehicles. Johnson was then placed under arrest for possession of stolen property and resisted officers as they tried to take her into custody and placed her in one of the patrol units.

During a search of the vehicle, police reported finding multiple credit and debit cards stolen from several car thefts. While transporting Johnson to the police department, Dotson reported she tried to slip her hand out of the cuff and he had to pull over and place them back on Johnson.

At the police department, Johnson‚s driver‚s license was found confirming her real identity and she was charged with three counts of knowingly receiving stolen property and one count of false impersonation. Before booking Johnson reportedly claimed she was having chest pain and her left arm was hurting but was later cleared at the emergency room at Northeastern Health Systems and returned to the police department. There she told Capt. Hutchinson she didn‚t steal the property but had found two purses on the side of the road south of Sallisaw. She was then transferred to the Sequoyah County Detention Center.

District Attorney Jack Thorp said falsely personate another to create liability is punishable by a fine of $10,000 and 10 years imprisonment, while each count of knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both fine and imprisonment.