Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 5, 1994 TAG: 9403050076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He was convicted of unlawful wounding.
Antwaun D. Johnson was one of about 15 people charged Sept. 10 after a mass fight broke out during a football game between Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner said Johnson punched Officer E.L. Hopkins in the eye. A class ring that Johnson was wearing caused a cut on Hopkins' forehead that required five stitches.
A scuffle between Johnson and Hopkins happened in what police called a "mob scene." A fight between two girls escalated into a disturbance involving hundreds of students and young adults on a ramp off the east stands of the stadium.
Most of the people arrested were charged with assault and battery; Johnson faced the only felony charge.
Under a plea agreement reached in Roanoke Circuit Court, Johnson's charge was reduced from malicious wounding to unlawful wounding, to which he pleaded guilty. He will be sentenced later and faces up to five years in prison.
While both malicious and unlawful wounding are felonies, malicious wounding carries a potential prison sentence of 20 years.
Johnson initially had been convicted in Juvenile and Domestic Relations court, but that case was voided after he appealed its result. He was then transferred to Circuit Court to stand trial as an adult.
Gardner said Johnson was yelling obscenities and interfering with Hopkins as the officer tried to arrest one of the girls involved in the fight.
A scuffle ensued as Hopkins then apprehended Johnson on a charge of impeding police and wrestled him to the ground. Someone else in the crowd kicked Hopkins in the head during the struggle, Gardner said.
Despite his guilty plea, Johnson disputed the prosecution's account. "I hit him, but . . . he swung first," he said.
Johnson, who has prior convictions of assault and is facing attempted escape charges stemming from a botched breakout of the Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Home, has been incarcerated since the incident.
At the time of the incident, he was not attending school because of previous criminal charges.
Judge Roy Willett made no mention of Johnson's T-shirt during Friday's hearing.
"It speaks for itself," Gardner said. "The important thing is that at age 17, he has an adult felony record for a crime of violence."
by CNB