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Bondsmen say Lashawn Johnson turned himself in

Posted at 7:49 PM, Jun 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-04 01:47:44-04

The man charged in the death of a Maricopa woman missing for more than a month was on the run for a separate crime around the time police say he committed the murder.

Nathan Wallace and Michael Roldan spent several weeks trying to chase Johnson down regarding a bench warrant.

"He was very difficult to find. He had lots of different girlfriends all over it seems he could pick up and be all over the place," said Wallace, who works for Dano's Bail Bonds.

Johnson told them he'd been on the run from police in Tucson for 13 months before they started tracking him. But for some reason, he got tired of running.

"He called out of the blue, and said 'I'm done, I just want to put it behind me. It's not a long time in jail, just meet me at 4th Avenue jail at 7,'" Wallace remembered.

So they did, and arrested him on the spot.

"He did not have a care in the world," said Roldan, of Randolph's Bail Bond.

The bondsmen didn't understand why the suspect decided to turn himself in until they started getting calls from investigators who said he was wanted in connection to Angela Russo's murder.

They believe his plan was to hope that by already being in custody, he could be overlooked for the actual murder.

RELATED: Wife of Lashawn Johnson defends him against murder charge

If that's the case, it didn't work. Johnson was busted and the two bail bondsmen are just glad they were able to help before Johnson hurt anyone else.

"It makes us happy that he is off the streets, because if he has done it once, he might think he can do it again," said Roldan.