On October 14, Watonga Police responded to a domestic dispute on Norwood Court. The couple who lived there reported that their son, Jeffery Johnson, had stabbed his father, Jimmy Johnson. The younger Johnson, according to court records, had left the residence on foot. Emergency medical personnel were requested to attend to the wounds on Jimmy Johnson.
A first responder arrived on scene and told police officers he had seen Jeffery Johnson walking on Prouty Avenue. Officers were able to locate him and placed him under arrest.
The younger Johnson told officers he had gone into the garage of the family home to smoke a cigarette but when he tried to re-enter the house, the door was locked. Walking around to the front door, he said he confronted his father about the locked door. An argument started and Jeffery Johnson claimed his parents were pushing him and kept him from leaving. He then stated he had pulled his pocketknife and slashed at his father. Then, he told police, he dropped the weapon and left the home.
Officers took Jeffery Johnson to the hospital for medical clearance and then transported him to the Blaine County Jail..
However, the elder Johnsons told officers a different series of events.
Doris Johnson said Jeffery had not been sleeping and had stopped taking his medication. She said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and attention deficit hyper activity disorder and had spent time in mental health facilities before coming to stay with them in May.
Sometimes, she said, he would suspect his parents of stealing from him. On the morning of the incident, he had come at her. Jimmy Johnson intervened and told Jeffery to leave the house. Instead, he jabbed his father with the pocketknife and threw a lighter at him. He threatened the couple, called them names and said he was going to stab them. Jimmy Johnson was taken by air ambulance to OU Trauma Center in Oklahoma City. There was no update available on his condition.
Jeffery Johnson was scheduled for a court appearance on October 21 and remained in custody as of press time in lieu of a $30,000 bond.
In a second, unrelated incident, a parent went mama bear on a person she suspected of giving her son fentanyl.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on October 8, the son had arrived at his mother's house. His mother, Jessica Montoya, said he had previously used drugs, mostly meth. This time, though, he looked and acted differently. Montoya works at the Blaine County Jail and told responding officers she knew what someone on drugs looked and acted like, but this was different for her son.
The son had told his family he was going to pick up his parent’s prescription at the pharmacy. However, his brother saw his vehicle at a residence near the pharmacy.
When he arrived home, the son told his mother he had seen a girl who gave him a ‘hit’ of something and he thought it was fentanyl. The mother then drove around near where the car had been spotted until she located the house ad a woman working on her fence in the yard.
At about the same time, Officer Joaquim Montoya, who works for the Watonga Police Department, came to the same house to talk with the residents about their dogs, which were at the dog pound. He arrived to find his parent allegedly striking and yelling at the resident. He separated the pair and placed his mother in his patrol car, then called for assistance.
Watonga Police Chief Beth Massey arrived on scene and was met there by the alleged victim, Jessica Montoya, Officer Montoya, and two other officers from the Blaine County Sheriff’s office.
The alleged victim was transported to the hospital by ambulance with a reserve officer in attendance, but she left the medical facility without being treatment and disappeared.
Jessica Montoya reported to the sheriff’s office later that day and was charged with misdemeanor assault. She had previously arranged bail and did a ‘walk through’ processing at the jail. She is on administrative leave from her job at the jail, according to Sheriff Travis Daugherty.