CARLSBORG — A man who said his Mazda Miata was carjacked by convicted sex offender Kenneth S. “Tiny” Johnson shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday thought law enforcement officers were after him and not Johnson.
Dane Duben thought Johnson was an undercover officer with a shotgun who was yelling at him to get out of his 1990 Miata while he was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles.
“I saw the gun and was thinking, ‘What did I do?’” Duben, 30, of Carlsborg recalled this week.
The carjacker did not seem desperate, he said.
“He seemed in a hurry, but he didn’t seem that frantic,” Duben said.
“He wasn’t shaky.”
Johnson, 35, who was wanted on a warrant for failing to register a new address as a sex offender, will be arraigned in Clallam County Superior Court at 9 a.m. Friday on four charges: two counts of second-degree theft of a motor vehicle and single counts of first-degree robbery and attempting to elude a police vehicle.
Before taking Duben’s car, Johnson allegedly stole a Subaru Legacy that he had been riding in as a passenger after authorities stopped the Subaru driver at 1:11 a.m. Saturday morning in Sequim to question Johnson.
They had a failure-to-register warrant for Johnson after he allegedly moved from a Sequim address without notifying authorities.
Johnson has past convictions of first-degree child molestation and third-degree rape of a child, court papers said.
Johnson took off in the Subaru, authorities said, and reached speeds of about 85 mph in a 30 mph zone in the Sequim area.
Shortly afterward, Duben — an insulation installer, class of 2003 Sequim High School graduate and the father of a 10-month-old girl — came into the picture, authorities said.
Duben was stopped near East Maple Street and South Sequim Avenue, officers said.
Duben said he saw lights flashing, heard sirens and pulled over to let the vehicles pass.
Law enforcement vehicles pulled in behind and in front of him while Johnson parked behind him, Duben said.
Johnson jumped out, ran up to the Miata and pointed a shotgun at Duben, the Carlsborg man said.
“I was thinking, ‘Geez, he said get out of the car and get on the ground,’” Duben said.
It “sounded like something a cop would say,” Duben recalled.
Duben’s seat belt was stuck, he said, before Johnson pulled him out of the vehicle.
“I thought I was being ripped out of the car by an undercover cop at first,” Duben said.
Johnson sped off in Duben’s car.
“The cop was behind me and had his gun drawn,” Duben said.
“I got on the ground like I was instructed, and [the cop] realized [Johnson] was stealing my car.”
Johnson was captured in Discovery Bay, about 25 miles from where he was first stopped, after a police officer rammed the rear of Duben’s car and made it spin and stop.
Duben, who had been at his mother’s house where his daughter lives, had tools for his job in the car along with a load of clean laundry.
During the pursuit, Johnson allegedly threw the laundry and the tools outside the vehicle to slow down pursuing officers.
But Duben lost more than his clothes.
All four tires of his Miata were ruined by spike strips that law enforcement officers deployed to stop Johnson.
The driver’s-side rear quarter-panel also was rammed, and the passenger door was caved in, Duben said.
“I’m 100 percent SOL,” he said, using a common acronym that contains an expletive.
“I don’t have transportation.”
Johnson also burned out the clutch of the Subaru, authorities said.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Wednesday he hopes both the driver of the Subaru, who was an acquaintance of Johnson’s, and Duben can be reimbursed for damages sustained during the chase.
Duben said Wednesday he is getting an estimate of the damage to his car, which he believes is totaled, and is getting rides to work from a co-worker.
Rich Sill, Clallam County human resources manager, said Duben could seek restitution through the courts as Johnson’s case is adjudicated.
Duben also could file a tort claim through the Clallam County Auditor’s Office that would go through the county’s risk management pool, Sill said.
Duben said he has obtained paperwork to process a claim through risk management.
His experience getting carjacked at gunpoint was more confusing than scary, he said.
Now, his concerns are more immediate.
“I just want to have a car again,” he said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
