BREMERTON, Wash. — The man who police say crashed a stolen truck with his 5-year-old daughter inside at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor failed to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.
KIRO 7 has also obtained surveillance video showing a man police have identified as 40-year-old Joshua Johannessen walking up with a white Ford Ranger parked at a Mobil gas station in Bremerton last Friday morning. He had his 5-year-old daughter with him.
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This was the same man and the same Ford Ranger that, according to police, crashed into a pole just inside the Trident Gate at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor a few hours later.
“It absolutely could have turned out much worse,” said Bremerton police Detective Beau Ayers.
Ayers told KIRO 7 the surveillance footage helped to build the case against the suspect.
“That’s number one that we were able to catch him so quickly. Number two is to identify him,” Ayers said.
According to charging documents, Johannessen convinced the owner of the Ford Ranger, Isana Solis, to give him and his 5-year-old daughter a ride up the street.
She agreed and on the security video, you see them all getting into the vehicle before leaving the gas station.
It was shortly after when detectives say Johannessen pulled out a knife and tried to stab Solis before she was pushed out of the truck.
Solis was not hurt and neither was Johannessen or his daughter.
Police say the pair was also seen on video inside Saar's Super Savers Foods, stealing a bottle water about 15 minutes before he approached Solis at the gas station.
“It’s hard to say what would have happened if she tried to fight him off,” Ayers said. “In an instance like that you want to think about the safety of the child and yourself.
Police believe Johannessen was high on meth at the time of the crash. He told detectives he wanted to get on base because he thought it would be a safe place.
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