By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — A 20-year-old man is behind bars Monday, accused of stealing cash at gunpoint Thursday from a man inside a Wausau apartment.
Herbert Mohammad Johnson, Jr., of Rothschild faces charges filed Monday in Marathon County Circuit Court of armed robbery with use of force, first degree recklessly endangering safety, receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, fleeing an officer, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and resisting or obstructing an officer. Police say Johnson was already wanted on several outstanding warrants and was on the run from his probation agent when he allegedly entered a west side apartment, pointed a handgun at a man’s head and stole $400 cash from his wallet before fleeing the scene.
The alleged armed robbery was reported at 9:37 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27 at an apartment in the 4100 block of Stewart Avenue. That’s when a resident called 911 to report that a man known to her as “Montana” entered her apartment, stole the money from a visiting friend and threatened to “bust a cap” into the apartment if she tried to see which direction he ran after leaving the apartment, according to the criminal complaint.
The suspect was later identified as Johnson, police said. The apartment resident told police she owed Johnson money but was unable to repay him, according to court filings.
Police had already been looking for Johnson and made several attempts to arrest him at an apartment in the 1800 block of N. 11th Avenue where he was allegedly living with his 20-year-old girlfriend but had no luck in finding him. Johnson is “known to be violent with law enforcement” and is known to run from officers to avoid apprehension, according to the police report.
Then at about 4:45 p.m. Friday, officers stopped a vehicle in the 800 block of N. 9th Avenue after identifying Johnson as a passenger in the back seat of the car. Johnson tossed a bag containing a handgun and marijuana onto the roof of the vehicle and tried to flee on foot but was apprehended, according to the report.
Johnson’s 20-year-old girlfriend, Caitlinn Rosenberg, and her 2-year-old daughter were also passengers in the car. Rosenberg, who is on probation, was taken into custody on a probation hold and her daughter was turned over to a relative. Rosenberg now faces felony charges of harboring or aiding a felon along with a misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer. She remains jailed on a probation hold.
An initial appearance for Johnson, who is on probation stemming from an April 2017 conviction on charges of child abuse and intimidating a victim, has not yet been set.
