MIDVALE, Utah, March 1, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Formal charges were filed Tuesday against the father of a four-year-old boy who police say told his son to shoot at a police officer in a McDonald’s parking lot.
According to a probable cause statement, the incident took place shortly after the father, identified as Sadaat Shamille Johnson, brandished a gun during a confrontation with a worker at a Midvale McDonald’s drive thru window.
Johnson, 27, now faces formal charges of:
- Child abuse/neglect, a third-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
- Interference with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor
A formal warrant for Johnson’s arrest was issued Tuesday, although jail records show he was booked last month. Johnson’s initial court appearance has been set for Thursday.
Drive-thru altercation
According to Johnson’s probable cause statement, a female clerk was working the McDonald’s drive-thru window on Monday, Feb. 21 of this year, when a man, later identified as Johnson, began arguing about his order.
“Johnson began swearing at (the clerk),and slapped the receipt from her hand,” the statement says.
“Johnson became more agitated as he grabbed the firearm off the passenger seat and racked it, ejecting a bullet. Johnson put the firearm back on the passenger seat and continued to argue with (the clerk). (She) stated that she shut the drive-thru window, and Johnson hit it. Johnson then grabbed the firearm and began looking at it. (The clerk) stated she backed away from the window. (She) feared that Johnson may shoot her or others. (She) called 911.”
UPD officers arrive
A Unified Police officer arrived and found Johnson sitting in his vehicle’s driver’s seat, with the windows up and the doors locked. The officer told Johnson to unlock the vehicle, but Johnson did not initially comply, the statement says.
“When Johnson finally unlocked the driver’s side door, he was taken out of the vehicle and placed on the ground,” the statement says. The officer noted that there were two young children in the back seat. They later were determined to be ages 4 and 3.
The statement says that after Johnson was taken into custody, another officer was walking past the driver’s side window of Johnson’s vehicle “when he saw a silver handgun emerge from inside the car.
“Officer Mathews quickly used his right hand to sweep the gun away, in an upward direction, and the gun went off in the process, hitting the upper part of the McDonald’s building. Officer Mathews peered into the car and saw a small child looking at him.”
Child’s statement
The 4-year-old boy was interviewed, and told officers that his father, Johnson, ordered two sandwiches, but the clerk got the order wrong, then called police, the statement says.
The child “stated that Johnson did hit the window where the food comes from. (The boy) stated that when the police came, they took Johnson and threw him on the ground. (The boy) stated that he got Johnson’s gun and shot the police because he wanted his daddy back. (The boy) stated that Johnson placed the gun behind the seat and said ‘he didn’t want to shoot the lady at the happy meal store,’ also telling his son ‘The police cannot open the door.'”
(An earlier police statement that a witness had reported hearing Johnson tell his son to fire at police was not mentioned in the probable cause statement.)
Johnson’s account
A detective reported seeing surveillance video of the incident showing Johnson had picked up the gun from the front passenger seat, and racked it. Post Miranda, Johnson told UPD officers he left his gun out because he does not have a concealed weapons permit.
Johnson told officers he remembered arguing with the clerk when his order was wrong, but “that he ‘blacked out’ for 30 seconds.
“Johnson denied brandishing the gun and racking it in from of the McDonalds employee, despite the surveillance video.”
Johnson told police he moved his gun because his food was sitting on it.
“Johnson stated that it his not the first time (his older child) has gotten his hands on a gun and that he did not teach (the boy) bad things about police but only told him to ‘keep away’ from police if possible.'”
Johnson is being held without bail at the Salt Lake County jail.
