SWAT helps arrest man who threatened deputies

A man who threatened Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies with a fire poker and an assault rifle Thursday near Rathdrum is facing aggravated assault charges on a peace officer.

Bradley J. Johnston, 21, was also arrested for the aggravated assault of an individual Johnston allegedly almost hit with a dune buggy.

Sheriff’s deputies were responding to a call arount 4 p.m. in the 1300 block of west Laramie Avenue when the incident with Johnston erupted.

The caller complained of almost being struck by a dune buggy driven by Johnston.

Two deputies arrived and while they were speaking to Johnston’s relatives inside the home, Johnston reportedly came into the house from a garage with a fire poker and began to threaten the deputies with it.

Johnston then ran to a room where multiple firearms were known to be located, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

The deputies left the residence to avoid the confrontation but Johnston is reported to have gone outside after them and pointed a pistol at them. The deputies had already taken cover behind their patrol cars and called for additional assistance.

The Sheriff’s Office reported that Johnson, then armed with an assault rifle and a laser sight, began to point int general direction of the deputies, who were still behind cover. Johnston then allegedly got into a truck and drove a short distance before stopping approximately 100 yards away from the residence and shining the truck’s headlights at the deputies’ direction.

Other deputies arrived and began a rescue plan for the pinned down deputies. Using an armored vehicle (Bearcat), deputies, along with several SWAT team members were able get into position to cover the pinned down deputies. The deputies were able to move to safety while the remaining SWAT team was deployed.

The Hostage Negotiation Team communicated with Johnston who finally exited the truck. Johnston began to follow commands but when ordered to show his hands, Johnston allegedly began to retreat. SWAT reportedly deployed a less lethal impact round to stop Johnston’s retreat along with KCSO K9 Manus. K9 Manus was able to subdue Johnston while SWAT members arrested Johnston.

Johnston was treated at Kootenai Health for the K9 contact and transported to the Kootenai County Jail where he was booked in for two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, and aggravated assault for the original offense deputies responded to.