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Man pleads guilty to vehicle theft, fleeing

A Marietta man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing a vehicle and fleeing police, making the plea deal less than a half hour before the case was set to go to trial.

Glenn R. Johnson Jr., 26, of 116 Harmar St., was scheduled to plead guilty last week, but the plea did not happen, said Washington County Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Rings.

With dozens of potential jurors awaiting jury selection Monday morning, Johnson indicated to Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Ed Lane that he wanted to plead guilty to all the charges surrounding his Dec. 22 arrest, said Rings.

Johnson allegedly stole a vehicle from in front of the Harmar Tavern and fled from the police when they located the vehicle, said Rings. He bailed out of the vehicle and tried to hide on a woman’s porch, but she alerted the police to his presence, he said.

Finally, Johnson forcibly resisted arrest when police tried to take him into custody, said Rings.

Johnson was charged with a third-degree felony charge of fleeing the police, a fourth-degree felony charge of theft of an automobile, a first-degree misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, said Rings.

He could face a maximum five years and three months in prison if the charges run consecutively but a maximum of three years if they are sentenced concurrently, said Rings.

Johnson is set to be sentenced April 25 at 8 a.m.

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