Additional charges filed against Kenneth Johns

IOWA CITY - Johnson County and Coralville authorities filed additional charges against Kenneth Johns on Wednesday, including a kidnapping charge that could keep him behind bars for another 25 years.

According to a news release from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Johns, 48, now faces charges of second-degree kidnapping, dominion/control of a firearm by a felon and carrying weapons in the March 7 abduction of his stepdaughter and the subsequent search, which triggered an AMBER ALERT. Additionally, the Coralville Police Department filed charges of dominion/control of a firearm by a felon, first-degree harassment and domestic abuse while displaying or using a weapon.

Included with the charges is a more detailed timeline of the events surrounding the AMBER ALERT.

According to the sheriff's office, at 4:45 a.m. March 7, deputies responded to the Casey's General Store in Solon after Johns' wife called to report a domestic dispute with him. She then informed police Johns had taken her daughter from a residence without her permission. At that point, the criteria for an AMBER ALERT were not met, Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Wednesday.

'Originally, we didn't know that Johns had a weapon,” he said. '(She) didn't give us any indication she thought her daughter was in danger.”

Authorities said the girls' mother went to the Coralville Police Department that day to provide more information. Coralville police and sheriff's deputies re-interviewed the woman, according to the sheriff's office. During the interview, the woman revealed additional information about an assault with a weapon from a few days earlier and that Johns had a handgun. Pulkrabek said those additional details provided authorities cause to issue the AMBER ALERT.

'She thought her daughter might be in danger now,” Pulkrabek said. 'That elevated it.”

Working with law enforcement, family members and other individuals, police said they were able to arrange the girl's return. She was dropped off at a convenience store and placed with the Department of Human Services. The girl remains with DHS, Pulkrabek said.

Johns contacted The Gazette/KCRG-TV9 newsroom while he was on the lam and indicated he had taken the girl for her protection.

'I can't comment on whether she's under investigation herself right now,” Pulkrabek said of the mother. 'All I can say is there is more investigation being done on this case.”

Johns has been in custody since he was arrested by Davenport police the morning of March 8 after a two and a half-hour standoff with authorities. He was transferred from the Scott County Jail to Johnson County on March 9 and the following day made an initial appearance on charges of domestic abuse while displaying a weapon, parole violation and assault causing bodily injury. The domestic abuse charge stems from an incident in January when Johns allegedly threatened his wife - the mother of the girl he abducted - with a gun and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about his 'illicit activities,” according to a Coralville police criminal complaint charge.

Johns earned the assault charge after being booked at the Johnson County Jail when he allegedly attacked another inmate. Johns asked during his initial appearance when someone else would be charged in that case, citing the injuries he suffered during the melee, which resulted in a trip to the University of Iowa Hospitals. However, security footage from the jail released on Wednesday depict Johns as the primary aggressor in that incident.

'Kenneth Johns went seeking this fight and he found it,” Pulkrabek said. 'He should not have done that.”

Johns continued to earn new charges after that event. Coralville police said Johns called his wife - who he has been barred from contacting - from the jail three times within 30 minutes on March 11. He was charged with violating a no contact order for that incident.

Judge Deb Minot ordered Johns to be held without bail on the parole violation charge. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning on his new charges. A trial date on the domestic abuse and assault charges have not yet been scheduled and Johns has not entered any pleas in those cases.