An Arizona man is accused of nearly killing a Department of Child Safety (DCS) caseworker who allegedly took the man’s daughter into an unsupervised room for an interview.
On Tuesday, the man, identified as 32-year-old De’Andre Terrell Johnson, from Scottsdale, attacked a DCS employee by putting them in a chokehold during a case interview and live-streamed the whole thing off his phone, AZ Central reports. The incident seemed to stem from Johnson’s concerns about the handling of an earlier incident involving his daughter at school.
Last month, Johnson shared a video of him going to his daughter’s school to speak with administration after the young girl told her father she didn’t want to return to the building after a DCS employee interviewed her in a private room. Members of the school’s staff couldn’t explain why the DCS employee took the girl into the room, which led to Johnson calling the police.
In his conversation with an officer, Johnson asked how that person would feel if “a man took your daughter in a room,” which they told him he would need to get in touch with DCS to know what happened during the interview. Johnson explained that he could understand the employee doing a wellness check if there were any visible signs of abuse.
According to court documents, Johnson met with the employee to speak about his daughter at the agency building. After the interview was over, Johnson allegedly put the caseworker in a chokehold for two-and-a-half minutes while going live on his Facebook page.
Court documents stated Johnson said the phrases, “You’s a dead man” and “You still breathing?” The caseworker reportedly began drooling, with bulging eyes and tensed muscles. Johnson then brought the employee to the floor and left as police arrived, responding to reports of the attack. Johnson then brought the employee to the floor before leaving once police arrived who received reports about an attack.
Johnson led police on a chase but was arrested at an attempted traffic stop, according to court documents. As a result of the attack, Johnson was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault of a judicial officer, aggravated assault with physical injury, and unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement vehicle. He is currently being held at a Maricopa County jail on a $500,000 bond.
The caseworker, on the other hand, was taken to a hospital but was later released, according to a statement made by DCS to The Arizona Republic. Court documents also stated the employee had “serious” injuries and “almost died.”
“The Department is committed to keeping our staff safe as they carry out this essential work, and we are conducting a comprehensive review of this incident in an effort to prevent it from happening again,” DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco said in a statement.
