Minnesota Public Radio reporting that Deputy Leising’s killer was convicted rapist
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — Minnesota Public Radio is reporting that the man who shot and killed Deputy Kaitie Leising just outside Glenwood City was convicted of sexually assaulting a mentally impaired victim in Washington County, Minnesota, in 2015.
According to online court records from Minnesota, Jeremiah D. Johnson, the man who was identified as shooting Deputy Leising when she stopped after he went into the ditch and then later killed himself, pleaded guilty in 2015 to kidnapping a young woman, taking her to his apartment in Stillwater and sexually assaulting her.
At the time of his death, Johnson was 34 years old and would have been 26 when he was convicted of felony counts of kidnapping (released in a safe place, no bodily harm) and third degree sexual assault of a mentally impaired or helpless victim.
A felony charge of fourth degree sexual assault of a mentally impaired or helpless victim was dismissed.
The Minnesota judge in the Johnson case sentenced Johnson to 33 months in prison on the kidnapping charge, to run concurrently with a 77 month prison sentence on the charge of third degree sexual assault of a mentally impaired or helpless victim, to be served at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.
The judge also ordered Johnson to register as a predatory sex offender for 10 years and gave him 135 days of credit for time served.
Johnson committed the crime in July of 2015 and was sentenced in November of 2015, so he would have been released from prison in 2021.
In July of 2015, the Minnesota court ordered that, as a condition of release on bail, that Johnson’s handgun permit be suspended until the case was concluded, that he surrender to the Stillwater Police Department all firearms that he owns or possesses, and that he was prohibited from residing in a residence where others possess firearms.
Probable cause
According to the statement of probable cause, a St. Paul resident saw a young Asian woman lying on the sidewalk outside his home in the early morning hours of July 5, 2015, and then saw a red car stop to check on the welfare of the woman.
The driver of the red car called 911 because the woman appeared to be intoxicated and was unable to provide her name.
When the driver of the red car turned around, he saw a green pickup truck pull up and a man in his 20s got out, picked up the young woman, put her in his truck and drove away fast, almost hitting another vehicle.
When the homeowner who had seen the woman lying on the sidewalk went outside to confront the man in his 20s, he told investigators that the man backed out of the parking space, almost hit a garage and then drove away with the headlights off.
Another witness reported seeing the green truck in a nearby parking lot backed into a dark area with the headlights off prior to the incident.
One of the witnesses was able to provide a license plate number for the green truck, and law enforcement was able to confirm the identity of the owner as Jeremiah Daniel Johnson.
When law enforcement located the truck in Stillwater, they found a young woman lying in the hallway of an apartment building who did not know where she was and seemed frightened and confused.
The young woman told law enforcement she had been intoxicated, had blacked out, remembered watching fireworks and had awakened on an air mattress next to a man she did not know.
Johnson told investigators the woman could not give her address, so he took her to his apartment. He initially denied sexual contact but then admitted to having sexual contact and said that he always wanted “to do an Asian woman.”
Johnson said he had been drinking but that there was nothing illegal about having sex with the woman because she was 18 years old.
The young woman was examined at a hospital and was found to have injuries in her vaginal area.
Other convictions
In November of 2014, Johnson was convicted in Minnesota of a petty misdemeanor of creating a public nuisance on a roadway.
Earlier in 2014, Johnson was arrested for violating a domestic abuse protection order. The charge was later dismissed, but Johnson was convicted of creating a public nuisance.
Johnson was convicted in Minnesota on a charge of careless driving in March of 2014.
In 2011, Johnson was convicted of driving after revocation of his driver’s license.
In 2008, Johnson was convicted of Driving While Intoxicated refusal to take a chemical test. Charges were dismissed of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, failure to stop for accident to property, collision with an unattended vehicle, and driving after revocation of his driver’s license.
In 2007, when he was 18 years old, Johnson was arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and was convicted of second degree assault with a dangerous weapon in 2008.
In 2006, Johnson pleaded guilty to careless driving.
First degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin carries a mandatory life sentence in prison.
