A 54-year-old Bloomington man was arrested Monday after police say he stabbed another man in the abdomen near West Market Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, then fled to a hotel room where officers eventually forced their way in to take him into custody. Tony Johnson now faces charges including aggravated battery and weapons offenses tied to the attack.
According to centralillinoisproud.com, Bloomington police were called to the area at about 2:45 p.m. Monday for a reported stabbing. Officers arrived to find a man with a stab wound to the abdomen who was conscious and able to speak, the outlet reported. He was taken to a local hospital and was later reportedly transferred to a Level 1 trauma center, according to the same report. The stabbing left the victim with serious injuries, according to WEEK | 25 News Now.
Camera Footage Leads Police to a Hotel Room
Investigators turned to public safety camera footage to track down whoever was responsible, per WEEK | 25 News Now. The footage reportedly showed someone matching the suspect's description walking away from the scene toward a hotel in the 1900 block of West Market Street, the station reported. Bloomington maintains a network of public safety cameras across the city, according to the City of Bloomington.
Officers identified the specific hotel room where the person of interest, allegedly Johnson, had gone, and multiple officers along with McLean County Sheriff's deputies surrounded the room, WEEK | 25 News Now reported. Detectives obtained a search warrant before forcing entry, the station reported. Johnson had refused to come out, but he was taken into custody without further incident, per the same account from centralillinoisproud.com.
Charges and Upcoming Court Date
Johnson was charged with aggravated assault in a public place and aggravated battery, according to the same account from centralillinoisproud.com. WEEK | 25 News Now additionally reported that Johnson faces aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery involving use of a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a felon, and possession of a weapon following a previous conviction for a forcible felony. He lives in Bloomington, according to the station.
He is expected to make an initial appearance in McLean County Circuit Court on the charges Wednesday, per centralillinoisproud.com. Under Illinois law, aggravated battery and unlawful weapon possession by a felon are addressed in statutes including 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05 and 720 ILCS 5/24-1.1. McLean County notes that anyone named in an arrest or incident report has not necessarily been charged with or convicted of the listed offenses and is considered innocent until proven guilty in court, according to the McLean County government.
Conflicting Reports on Earlier Bloomington Stabbings
Separately, an earlier Pantagraph report said no arrests had been made in a stabbing late Monday that left a man hospitalized, and described that victim as being in stable condition, with police investigating an incident in the 400 block of South McLean Street. A different Pantagraph report also said a man was in stable condition after being stabbed on a Friday morning, a separate incident whose connection to the other reports is likewise unclear.
