By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer

Avis Johnson, 74, said she was sleeping soundly when she was awoken by a man digging through her dresser drawers. Johnson said when she awoke, she made eye contact with the man, who was wearing a bandana over his face and had “a crazed look in his eye.”

This week, 17-year-old Holden Smith of Prior Lake was charged in connection with the crime. The Scott County Attorney’s Office charged him in association with the burglary and assault of Johnson in the 16900 block of Lyons Avenue around 2:32 a.m. on April 27.Avis Johnson, 74, sits at one of her
favorite places, the Prior Lake
Library, on Tuesday afternoon to
tell her story about being
burglarized and assaulted. (Photo
by Shawn Hogendorf)

Smith was charged with one count of first-degree burglary with assault and one count of third-degree assault, causing substantial bodily harm. Both counts are felonies. Under state law, the names of juveniles charged with felonies are public.

Smith was charged as a minor, but Lori Lambrecht, the Scott County Attorney’s Office manager, said the office has filed a motion to try him as an adult.

The other person police arrested, an 18-year-old Prior Lake man, was released from custody this week pending lab results from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Chris Olson, Prior Lake police detective.

Johnson recalls her ordeal vividly.

“I sat up on the side of the bed and thought I was having a nightmare,” Johnson said. “I realized I wasn’t having a nightmare after he hit me three times and I felt blood running down my face. I looked at him and said, ’Get the hell out of here.’”

The suspect then ran out of her bedroom, and Johnson said she barricaded herself with a phone in one hand and her “trusty lantern” in the other.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said.

Johnson couldn’t get a phone connection from her bedroom, so she walked out to the kitchen to call for help. Johnson said she accidentally dialed 411, whose dispatcher connected her to police.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Johnson said. “All I could think of was movies and that I was at the mercy of the person in my house.”

When police arrived, Johnson was bleeding heavily from a laceration above her left eye, according to the criminal complaint.

Johnson was transported to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, where she was received 11 stitches above her left eye and was released six hours later.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police found a lower-level door ajar in Johnson’s home, which Johnson said she never uses and was locked, along with possible blood smears on the door and signs that the lock on the door had been tampered with.

Carver County deputies then arrived with a K-9 partner to assist Prior Lake police in the investigation. The K-9 tracked a scent found in Johnson’s home from a walk-out door in her house, along a paved trail through Ponds Park, which crossed over Wilderness Trail into Deerfield Park.

Near the pavilion of Deerfield Park, the K-9 went to a garbage can, where officers located a white bandana with black markings, matching the description of the bandana Johnson gave police with the person who burglarized and assaulted her. The bandana was lying on the top of the garbage can and was the only item in the garbage can that didn’t have frost on it.

The K-9 continued to follow the trail until it was lost near the intersection of Fish Point Road and Fawn Meadow Curve.

Through an investigation, police were able to make a possible connection between the burglary and a home they had been called to for loud parties and a domestic disturbance earlier in the week.

On April 25, police responded to a call for a loud party in the 17300 block of Lilac Lane. Smith was among those who answered the door.

The boys told police no one else was at the house and agreed to keep the noise down, but police noticed a purse and girls’ shoes and asked the others at the house to come downstairs. While interviewing the people at the house party, police noticed Smith wearing a white bandana that matched the later-found bandana in the garbage can.

At about 4:46 p.m. April 27, police responded to a domestic assault in the area of Lilac Lane and Wilderness Trail. Officers knocked on the door and again, Smith answered. This time police noticed a white towel full of what appeared to be blood and a knife sitting on the coffee table.

Police entered the house and arrested several people for minor consumption of alcohol. Police also found several guns in the house.

On April 28, police spoke with a witness near the home where the loud party and domestic assault were reported. Witnesses told police there was a lot of noise and activity at the house in the last couple of days. Witnesses also told police they heard a fight inside the house and that several people had been coming and going all week long.

Police executed a search warrant and found a brown-colored jacket matching the description Johnson had given of the person involved with the assault and burglary; black leather gloves with what appeared to be blood stains; black running pants matching the description of the pants the boy was wearing; and a white Reebok handbag.

Johnson later identified the white handbag as hers.

The essence of the case rests on property taken from the house that became apparent after making arrests on unrelated charges and finding items that belonged to the burglary victim, Olson said.

When interviewed by police, Smith said he brought liquor and a 12-pack of Michelob Golden Light to the house for a party. But Johnson told police she had a 12-pack of Michelob Golden Light in her refrigerator and a bottle of vodka that were both missing.

While interviewing Smith, investigators noticed he had a swollen right hand with minor cuts. He denied any involvement in the burglary and said his hand was swollen from a fight he was in earlier that evening.

 “It’s very invasive that my mother has to live in fear,” said Tim Johnson, Avis’ son. “She has to sell her house now to live in a secure building. The frustrating thing is that we didn’t do anything wrong, and now we have to take time off work to deal with this.

“It was shocking and horrifying to see to see my mother bleeding like that,” Tim said.

“I just don’t feel safe anymore,” Avis added.

Avis said she’s had nightmares ever since that night and has stayed with her son Tim, daughter Lori and neighbors since the incident.

“I’m hopeful that the system works,” Tim said. “There seems to be a lot of people outraged about this.”

These are fairly unique circumstances for police, Lt. Randy Hofstad said. It’s important to note that things like this can happen in a small or large community, he said.

“We don’t want to give people a sense of false security,” Hofstad said.

Hofstad said it’s important for people to make sure to lock windows and doors and to place a bar in sliding glass doors. Lights can also be a good deterrent, along with getting to know and communicate with neighbors, he said. Hofstad said he doesn’t advocate alarms, but they do give some people a sense of security.

The case remains an open investigation.

Smith’s next court appearance has been set for 11 a.m. May 14 for a probable cause hearing. A certification hearing to determine whether he will be charged as an adult will be on May 27.

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.