The 20 year-old Arizona man who led law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit spanning two counties last week swiftly accepted responsibility for his actions and was sentenced to four years in prison Monday morning.

On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Andrew Johansen was arrested just off the Gratiot exit along I-70. 

According to Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor John Litle, the events leading up to his arrest began when Johansen responded to a motorcycle advertisement in Canton. 

Johansen showed up to the seller’s home and asked to take the bike for a test drive. The owner gave Johansen a helmet and keys, but Johansen never returned. 

Noticing a man riding a motorcycle in cold weather without appropriate clothing for such conditions, a trooper in Guernsey County ran the plates and learned the bike was stolen, Litle said in Court. 

Johansen fled from the trooper trying to initiate a traffic stop, prompting the pursuit that, at times, reached speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour and caused for the shift supervisor to call it quits. 

However, it briefly resumed at the Norwich exit until Johansen was lost in traffic. 

Troopers from the Zanesville Post found Johansen once more at the 166 mile marker and pursued him at speeds near 130 miles per hour until having to call it off again upon entering a construction zone. 

Johansen eventually exited the interstate in Zanesville where a detective in an unmarked vehicle caught up with him at Fifth Street and Shinnick Street. 

The defendant noticed the detective before being apprehended and once again took off. 

He was seen passing vehicles from the left-hand side on Canal Street before driving over the Sixth Street Bridge and reaching speeds near 75 mile per hour once hitting Putnam Avenue. 

Litle said Johansen ran the red light at the Harrison Street intersection and eluded two more detectives before turning around and heading the other direction on Putnam Avenue reaching 90 miles per hour while heading toward the interstate. 

The police captain on duty attempted to stop Johansen on the Sixth Street bridge but was unsuccessful. 

Johansen would re-enter I-70 west where he again reached speeds over 115 miles per hour. 

Weaving in and out of traffic, the officers pursuing Johansen lost sight of him until he was spotted by a detective using his phone on Mount Perry Road just off the Gratiot exit. 

Another brief pursuit on Main Street involving a Muskingum County sheriff’s deputy led to a minor crash and the apprehension of Johansen.  

Johansen was taken to Genesis Hospital for medical evaluation before being booked in the Zanesville City Jail. 

He was charged in the matter and pleaded guilty to a prosecutor’s bill of information including the offenses: 

• Failure to comply with risk of harm, a third-degree felony
• Receiving stolen property (motor vehicle), a fourth-degree felony
• Obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony

Johansen told Judge Mark Fleegle he was currently on probation for another crime before his stunt in Muskingum County. 

Justifying the four-year prison sentence recommendation, Litle added that Johansen has numerous cases in Arizona, some of which were also fleeing situations. 

“There was continuous, dangerous, ridiculous behavior that put people in two separate counties in danger,” said Litle. 

Fleegle followed the recommendation and sentenced Johansen to four years in prison and suspended his license for three years.