March 28, 2024 6:52 AM
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A Busy Weekend for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office: A Plane Crash and an Attempted Homicide

Single Engine Airplane Crashes in Mazatzal Wilderness Area

On Friday afternoon, November 11, 2022, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office received a notification from the Arizona Department of Emergency Management (DEMA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of a downed single engine airplane. With assistance from the Civil Air Patrol, the destroyed aircraft and the pilot were located approximately 8.7 miles North of Sheep’s Bridge on the Verde River in the Mazatzal Wilderness area. The pilot survived with only minor injuries. AZ DEMA helped arrange for a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office helicopter to retrieve the pilot and fly him to the Scottsdale airport to be reunited with his wife. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating to determine the cause of the crash.

YCSO Arrests Man for Attempted Homicide in Cordes Lakes

On Saturday November 12th at approximately 1:15 p.m. YCSO deputies responded to a 911 call that a woman had been shot at a residence located on Marble Canyon Way in Cordes Lakes. Preliminary information was that the woman, 43 years old who lives next door to the alleged assailant, went to his residence to inform him that his dog was loose. The suspect, Joshua Johnson, 31 years old, shot her in the neck while she was trying to speak with him. The victim was able to take cover behind a large tree trimming truck with the help of some of her neighbors.

After shooting the first victim, the suspect entered his house and shot at his wife, holding her against her will as she tried to escape the situation with their 18-month-old child.

The first two YCSO deputies on the scene were able to rescue the first victim with the help of two nearby men who are working in the area; one deputy transporting the victim to the nearby community center and the other holding a perimeter with the help of an Arizona DPS Trooper. The YCSO SWAT team responded and took over the scene due to the suspect barricading himself in his home with his wife and child.

A YCSO 911 dispatch operator was able to engage the suspect on the phone, communicating with him until he agreed to leave his house and surrender. The shooting victim was flown to Deer Valley Hospital with a gunshot wound to her neck, and was released from the hospital that evening.

The suspect admitted to his crimes, saying he was “getting the devil out of both victims.” He has been booked on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted homicide per domestic violence, two counts of kidnapping per domestic violence, and two counts of disorderly conduct per domestic violence.

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