The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

June 6, 2008

Former police officer charged

Dan Nienaber

LAKE CRYSTAL — A former Lake Crystal police officer, who resigned in December after 14 years of service, is facing a felony charge for allegedly selling a van without a clean title.

James Walter Johnson Jr., 36, is scheduled to appear in court June 12 for a felony charge of selling a vehicle without revealing a creditor’s security interest and a misdemeanor theft charge. He’s accused of selling a 1997 Ford Windstar van for $200 without telling the buyer AmeriCredit Financial had a $2,027 lien on the vehicle.

Alan White and his sister, Marnee White, attempted to transfer the van’s title in December 2006. They had purchased the van from Johnson and his wife, Pamela, then. Johnson told Alan White the lien card for the title was lost and he would send it to him later.

When Alan White asked Pamela Johnson about the lien card in January 2007, she told him she had applied for a duplicate card and it would be delivered in six to eight weeks. When Pamela Johnson was contacted again in July about the title, she allegedly left a phone message saying, “Do you think I care.”

When the Whites contacted AmeriCredit that same day, they learned the Johnsons still owed more than $2,000 for the vehicle. They are not able to drive the van because they can’t get registration tabs for it, the criminal complaint said. The case is being investigated by the State Patrol.

Lake Crystal Police Chief Tony Cornish said Johnson started working for the Police Department on Nov. 1, 1993, and resigned on Dec. 20, 2007. Cornish said he could not say why Johnson resigned because it is not public information.

The Johnsons could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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