BOISE -- An afternooon bank robbery, a high-speed police chase, and a car crash during rush hour on one of the busiest roads in Idaho.
Police say one man was responsible for all three, and they say he didn’t rob just one bank, but two.
One happened Tuesday night on ParkCenter Boulevard in Boise, the other, tonight in Garden City. The latest hit, the Mountain West bank at Glenwood and State around 5:00pm Thursday.
It led to a rush hour chase that ended six miles away near the intersection of Eagle and McMillan.
From the time of the robbery to when police had 33-year-old Joshua Johnson in custody was right around 10 minutes.
When all was said and done the only reported injury was a neck injury on Johnson, which doctors at Saint Alphonsus treated and released him. With what police said he did, it could have turned out much worse.
Just before five on Thursday - police say Joshua Johnson entered the Mountain West Bank on the corner of Glenwood and State in Garden City and demanded money.
He got away, but not before a witness got a license plate number and a description of his car. Eight minutes after the robbery, officers found a car that matched the description.
"A Boise police officer located that vehicle at Chinden and Garrett Street. Garden City assisted with the, attempted to assist with the traffic stop at that location," said Deputy Chief Rick Allen with the Garden City Police Deptartment.
But Johnson didn't stop. Reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour on Chinden Boulevard he made his way to Eagle Road.
"With commuter traffic it is extremely dangerous, the commuters were one of our top priorities during this pursuit, that's why we wanted to end the pursuit as fast as we could," said Allen.
In a move that appears to be out of desperation, Deputy Chief Allen says Johnson swerved and appeared to intentionally hit two police cars as they chased him. The action then moved Southbound on Eagle Road.
"We were attempting to stop the pursuit all along, but at the point in time that he hit 80 miles per hour and was going into on-coming traffic, that was a major concern for us," said Allen.
Following Johnson as he sped along Eagle on the wrong side of the road - officers performed a PIT maneuver. It's a move where the front of the officer’s car pushes the back of the suspect’s car, causing it to spin and stop.
"If it's done correctly it's very effective, and generally pretty safe," said Allen.
Allen says Johnson didn't put up a struggle as officers pulled him from the car and arrested him.
Complaining of neck injuries paramedics put him on a stretcher and took him to the hospital.
"We did find evidence that we believe to be related to the robbery, but as for the exact details of what we found I don't want to go into that. We're pretty sure we have the man," said Allen.
Police believe Johnson is also the man seen in bank surveillance video from earlier this week. They say he robbed the Home Federal Bank on ParkCenter Boulevard Tuesday night. He's in jail on several charges, including two counts of bank robbery. He will appear before an Ada County Judge Friday afternoon.
