Des Moines police are searching for a man they say fled a fatal April hit-and-run, then reported the car involved as stolen two days later.
Nicholas Robert Ray Johnston, 32, was driving south on Southeast 14th Street at about 4:30 a.m. April 25 when he ran a red light at Hartford Avenue and crashed into a truck driven by 77-year-old Raymond Brown, according to a Monday, June 1 news release from Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek.
“Johnston ran on foot from the scene without offering aid or information,” Parizek said in the release.
Johnston later contacted the police department and reported his car as stolen, police said. Brown died April 30 from injuries sustained in the crash.
Johnston has active warrants for homicide by vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, false report of an indictable offense and traffic offenses.
“Efforts to take Johnston into custody have not produced results,” Parizek said.
Court records detail search warrants, police interview
Court records show Des Moines police obtained search warrants for Johnston’s 2020 Chevrolet Equinox and phone records in the days after the crash.
In an April 29 search warrant application, Des Moines police traffic investigator Curt Brass wrote that police and firefighters found the Equinox unoccupied at the intersection of Southeast 14th Street and Hartford Avenue. A 2020 Chevy Silverado with Brown inside was also at the scene.
Witnesses told responding officers the driver of the Equinox fled on foot, Brass wrote. Brown was taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center with serious injuries.
Brass wrote that he reviewed intersection camera footage showing Brown’s truck entering the intersection from Hartford Avenue on a green light before the Equinox entered on a red light.
“The impact was severe and the Chevy Equinox came to a stop on the southeast corner of the intersection,” Brass wrote.
The driver of the Equinox got out and appeared injured, Brass wrote. He then left on foot to the east.
“The driver of the Equinox never approaches the Silverado to check on the driver; the driver of the Silverado does not exit or even open the door of the Silverado,” Brass wrote.
Police sought to search the Equinox for evidence tied to who was driving and what happened in the moments before the crash. Brass wrote that the vehicle had “massive front end damage” and that multiple airbags had deployed.
“In my experience when vehicle airbags go off, injuries occur and trace evidence of the driver and or occupants is left on the airbag and in the interior of the car,” Brass wrote.
Police also sought crash data from the Equinox, including information that could show its speed and braking before the collision.
A later search warrant application says Brown was intubated, unable to speak, had multiple brain bleeds and broken bones when Brass spoke with Brown’s family April 28.
“At 1:35 PM on 30 April, I was informed by Raymond Lee Brown’s family that he had died of the injuries he sustained in this collision,” Brass wrote.
A May 8 warrant application says Johnston came to Brass’ office April 30 and claimed the Equinox had been stolen. Johnston told police he was the vehicle’s only driver and said there were two keys, one in his possession and another he would leave in the vehicle.
Johnston told police during that interview that he parked the Equinox at his Fleur Drive residence the night before the crash and then was picked up by his girlfriend and taken to Fort Dodge around noon, according to the warrant application. He told police he did not notice the Equinox missing until the morning of April 27.
Brass wrote that Johnston said he thought the vehicle had been towed and called Crow Tow in Des Moines before reporting it stolen to police. But Brass wrote that Crow Tow had no record of someone calling about the vehicle. He also wrote that the only call from Johnston’s phone number to Des Moines police dispatch was made at 5:14 p.m. April 27, when Johnston reported the vehicle stolen.
Police later sought historical cell phone records for a phone number tied to Johnston “to confirm or deny the presence of Johnston’s above-identified cell phone at the scene of the collision.”
In the same warrant application, Brass wrote that he saw similarities between Johnston and the person seen leaving the Equinox in traffic camera footage.
“In reviewing video from both events I noted a similar gait between the two,” Brass wrote.
Anyone with information about Johnston’s recent or current location is asked to call 515-283-4811. Tips can also be submitted through the Des Moines Police Department mobile app or Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa. Tipsters may remain anonymous.
Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @nick_el_hajj.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines police say driver fled deadly crash, filed false report
Reporting by Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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