51. The Vigilante (Pat Johnson)

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Speaker 3 This episode of Swindled contains descriptions of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. Listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 4 The story begins when he was a teenage student living on a pittance in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, right near the heart of what was once a great industrial area.

Speaker 4 His neighbor, I'm mostly quoting now, his neighbor was a woman in her 80s surviving on cat food, the widowed wife of a retired steel worker.

Speaker 4 Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that for the 30 years of his service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement.

Speaker 4 Instead, he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union, not to mention the government, raided the pension funds and stole their retirement.

Speaker 4 All she had was Social Security to live on.

Speaker 4 And Stack could have added that there are concerted and continuing efforts by the super rich and their political allies to take even that away on spurious grounds.

Speaker 4 Stack decided then that he couldn't trust big business and would strike out on his own, only to discover that he couldn't trust the government that cared nothing about people like him, but only about the rich and privileged.

Speaker 2 Andrew Joseph Stack III was so tired of eating peanut butter and bread for dinner.

Speaker 2 The stereotypical poor college student was sick of being poor, so he dropped out of school and moved to Silicon Valley, which in the early 80s was on the cusp of a technological revolution.

Speaker 2 It was the perfect place to be for what Joe Stack wanted to be, a software engineer.

Speaker 2 There was no hesitation leaving Pennsylvania either. The industrial economy was drying up, and it's not like it had ever felt like home for Joe Stack anyway.

Speaker 2 Both of Joe's parents had been killed in a car accident when he was only four years old. He grew up in a Catholic orphanage separated from his two brothers and sister.

Speaker 2 There's no way San Francisco could be worse than that, right? Wrong. Joe Stack would later claim that it was in California where he received his, quote, introduction to the real American nightmare.

Speaker 2 The American nightmare Joe Stack was referring to is taxes. You see, Joe Stack made some money in California, enough even to buy a private plane and a pilot's license.

Speaker 2 But Joe was a bit perturbed with the government's take, to say the least. He sought out and befriended like-minded tax protesters in the state.

Speaker 2 He would join in on their tax discussions and read the tax code for fun.

Speaker 2 One of the group's biggest grievances was directed at the Catholic Church and other religious organizations, all exempted from paying taxes while the Pope sat on a golden throne.

Speaker 2 And here was Joe Stack, a man who started his own small software engineering business from nothing, having to pay an absurd amount every year. and receiving little return on his investment.

Speaker 2 It just wasn't fair.

Speaker 2 We carefully studied the law with the help of some of the best high-paid experienced tax lawyers in the business, Joseph Stack wrote, and then began to do exactly what the big boys were doing, except that we weren't stealing from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God.

Speaker 2 It has never been confirmed, but many people, including J.J.

Speaker 2 McNabb, an expert on tax protesters, believed that Joe Stack had actually founded his own home church to avoid paying taxes back in the 80s.

Speaker 2 Joe had grown even more bitter towards the Internal Revenue Service when Section 1706 of the United States Tax Code was revised in 1986.

Speaker 2 Instead of being classified as self-employed, which allowed him to deduct certain expenses to reduce his tax liability, the new revisions essentially forced technology consultants such as Joe Stack to be classified as employees.

Speaker 2 After spending thousands of dollars and hours campaigning against the code change, which he referred to as an atrocity, Joe Stack funneled his money through his own church and claimed religious exemption.

Speaker 2 But his plan backfired. There's evidence that this little tax stunt cost Joe Stack at least $126,000.

Speaker 2 That's the amount his wife Ginger listed as owed to the IRS when she filed for bankruptcy in 1999 after the couple had divorced. Together, they had one daughter and a whole lot of debt.

Speaker 2 In addition, according to California records, both of the software companies that Joe Stack and his ex-wife owned were suspended for failing to pay state taxes.

Speaker 2 Neither other companies were allowed to operate until Joe settled his debts, one of which was a paltry $1,100.

Speaker 2 With no wife, no business, and no intention of ever paying the state of California, in the early 2000s, Joe Stack tried to reignite his career in Austin, Texas, a place with a booming technology scene of its own.

Speaker 2 And best of all, there was no state income tax.

Speaker 2 Despite his initial frustrations of finding work in Texas and the lack of West Coast pay, Joe Stack had found his new home in Austin.

Speaker 2 In 2003, he launched a new software engineering company called Embedded Art. In 2007, he purchased a new house where he lived with his new wife, a pianist, and her daughter from a previous marriage.

Speaker 2 Joe also rediscovered his passion for music in the quote-unquote live music capital of the world.

Speaker 2 He played bass guitar in different dad bands around town, the kind where half the group is wearing sandals and no gig was too small.

Speaker 2 Austin American statesman reporter Patrick Beach recalls meeting Joe Stack at a private party for which they were both recruited to perform.

Speaker 5 But Joe

Speaker 6 was just

Speaker 6 the quintessential mild-mannered

Speaker 6 middle-American, bespectacled engineer type. He would never stand out in a crowd.
I knew him in a very limited way.

Speaker 6 We got together not to share our feelings, but to learn songs to play for this one party. And so that was pretty much the extent of what we talked about.

Speaker 6 But within that context, I never heard him say anything about this decades-long problem he had had with the government.

Speaker 2 Oh, right. Despite all of the fun Joe Stack was having in Austin, his decades-long problem with the government remained.
It had always been there.

Speaker 2 boiling just under the surface, undetected by family and friends. And on February 18th, 2010, Joe Stack finally admitted defeat.

Speaker 2 His wife Cheryl had left the house the previous night with her 12-year-old daughter. They were staying at a Ramada Inn temporarily.
Something about Joe's recent behavior had spooked his family.

Speaker 2 It probably had something to do with the latest audit on Joe's unreported income. Either way, Cheryl wanted a divorce.

Speaker 2 When Cheryl Stack returned to the house the following morning to pick up some belongings, the house was no longer there.

Speaker 9 I saw the smoke billowing and I said, Oh my god, he's burned the house down. And then I figured he was in it because he's suicidal.

Speaker 9 I figured he was in the house, so I couldn't wait to see his car.

Speaker 9 You know, once I realized he burned down our house and everything in it,

Speaker 9 I hope he's in the house because if he's not, he's still at large, and I have to be afraid for my life because he's mad at me for ruining his life.

Speaker 2 Joe Stack was not inside of the house. Joe Stack was inside of his airplane at a hangar in Georgetown.
He was preparing for takeoff.

Speaker 2 At 9.45 a.m., air traffic control cleared Joseph Stack for departure. He tells them he's headed southbound for which he is approved.

Speaker 2 Thanks for your help. Have a great day, Joe tells them.

Speaker 2 You too, the tower replies.

Speaker 2 14 minutes later, Joe Stack flew his aircraft at full speed into the lower floors of the seven-story echelon building number two in Austin, a building that housed almost 200 Internal Revenue Service employees.

Speaker 11 Austin, Maiwan, you need police fire, you must?

Speaker 12 I would be up. There's been an explosion on I-30, on

Speaker 12 183 Research.

Speaker 13 I'm going to test you.

Speaker 13 I'm going to test you to Paramax. Hang on, ma'am.

Speaker 11 Let's get the Paramax started, okay? Okay.

Speaker 14 Okay, ma'am, I do have to help on the way. This is not going to slow them down, but I want to make sure that I have them going to the right place.

Speaker 12 So building two, there was an explosion it sounded like an 18 wheeler um slammed into the building

Speaker 2 witnesses outside of the building reported a loud explosion followed by a giant ball of fire the windows of the black glass office building ruptured like popcorn from the heat debris from the wreckage rained down and shattered the windshields of the cars on the highway below The midday sky was full of smoke.

Speaker 2 Inside, the ceilings caved in as occupants ran for the exits. Others hid under their desk after the explosion had knocked them out of their chairs.

Speaker 2 It was later revealed that Joe Stack had removed seats in his aircraft in order to fit an extra drum of fuel that he had stolen from the airport. Joseph Stack's goal was maximum damage.

Speaker 16 We don't know if it has any correlation to this, but that is the IRS building here in Austin, Texas, so we just...

Speaker 16 We don't know if that has anything to do if it was an accident or if it was something more sinister than that.

Speaker 7 See that stone wall, the retaining wall?

Speaker 7 It hit right above the retaining wall and shot in that building. A gigantic fireball came out, probably 50 feet wide.
Then windows blew out. Then insulation flew out.

Speaker 7 Then those Venetian blinds were flapping everywhere. Then fire started.
What are you thinking about the people who were inside here? My heart's still pounding.

Speaker 7 My jaw was dropped. I thought there must be dozens of people dead.

Speaker 2 Amazingly, the destruction was minimized by the close proximity of the Travis County Hazardous Materials team, who just so happened to be training on the other side of the highway that morning.

Speaker 2 There were also additional fully equipped fire engines working nearby thanks to Joe Stack's poorly timed house fire.

Speaker 2 The quick response was quite an efficient use of the tax dollars that Joe Stack never wanted to pay.

Speaker 2 Additionally, a glass worker named Robin DeHaven was driving by the building when the plane crashed.

Speaker 2 He maneuvered his truck as close to the building as possible and set up his extension ladder to rescue six people from the second floor.

Speaker 2 The fire sprinklers on the ceiling were also very effective at dampening the flames, and the windows on the wall adjacent to the impact had shattered, resulting in enhanced ventilation.

Speaker 2 This combination of heroic action and luck helped prevent a major catastrophe.

Speaker 17 A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launches a suicide attack crashing his small plane into an Austin, Texas building with hundreds of IRS workers inside.

Speaker 2 The blaze was extinguished within 75 minutes. In total, 13 people have been reported injured and two people were killed.

Speaker 2 One being the pilot of the plane, Andrew Joseph Stack, and the other, a man named Vernon Hunter, a 68-year-old Army veteran who had spent the past 15 years working as a revenue officer group manager for the IRS.

Speaker 2 Part of Vernon Hunter's job was to formulate payment plans for taxpayers who couldn't afford to pay.

Speaker 2 This is the city of Austin's chief of police, Art Ocevedo, in the immediate aftermath of the plane crash, addressing the elephant in the room.

Speaker 18 I know the number one fear that's coming to everybody's mind is there is an act of terrorism and is the country, the city, the region in danger.

Speaker 18 And I can tell you categorically that there is no cause for concern from a law enforcement or a terrorism perspective.

Speaker 18 The one point that I need to put out is that this is an isolated incident here, that there is no cause for alarm, and that people should continue their lives as they would any other day of the week.

Speaker 2 Investigators were able to quickly make the determination that Joseph Stack was a lone wolf because the suicide pilot had published a manifesto on the front page of his company's website earlier that morning.

Speaker 2 It's about six pages long and begins with Joe Stack's life story of growing up in an orphanage in Pennsylvania.

Speaker 2 before launching into a tirade about taxation without representation and how he had never seen a politician in his lifetime cast a vote with his interest in mind.

Speaker 2 And then Joe directs his anger towards our corporate overlords.

Speaker 2 Quote, Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities, and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days, if not hours.

Speaker 2 Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple.

Speaker 2 And this country's leaders don't see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies.

Speaker 2 Yet the political representatives, parentheses thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate, have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the terrible health care problem.

Speaker 2 It's clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

Speaker 2 Yikes, timely and relevant. He continues.
And justice? You've got to be kidding.

Speaker 2 How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and indeed our entire legal system?

Speaker 2 Here we have a system that is by far too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand, yet it mercilessly holds accountable its victims, claiming that they're responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand.

Speaker 2 The law requires a signature on the bottom of a tax filing, yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing. If that's not duress, then what is?

Speaker 2 If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

Speaker 2 According to Joe Stack's letter, his latest audit was the final straw. He blamed the CPA who prepared his tax returns for neglecting to include Cheryl's unreported income.

Speaker 2 Now Joe was on the hook for a few thousand more dollars, just a few years removed from the 08 recession and massive bank bailouts. I have had all I can stand, Joe wrote.

Speaker 2 I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double-standard knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions, people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are.

Speaker 2 Sadly though, I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn't so. But violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer.

Speaker 2 The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing at and using this awareness against fools like me all along.

Speaker 2 I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity.

Speaker 2 Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different.
Take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

Speaker 2 The communist creed, from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

Speaker 2 The capitalist creed, from each according to his goal ability, to each according to his greed. Signed, Joe Stack, 1956-2010.

Speaker 2 When the media got a hold of this manifesto, political bloggers tripped over themselves trying to pin the blame on the opposing ideological party.

Speaker 2 Was Joseph Stack a radical communist or some kind of libertarian nutjob? Was he a bleeding-heart socialist advocating for Medicare for all?

Speaker 2 Or was he a pro-small government Tea Party conspiracy theorist? It was hard to tell, because Joe Stack's sentiment was a common one.

Speaker 2 Almost everyone agrees that there are major problems within the system. They just can't seem to agree on the source.

Speaker 2 Just know that whether you're rioting in the streets or buying extra beans, someone is laughing all the way to the bank. Think about it.

Speaker 2 People in the richest country on earth are using rideshares instead of ambulances during medical emergencies because they can't afford the bill.

Speaker 2 There is no high-speed rail connecting major urban centers because it would make the oil and airline industry sad.

Speaker 2 And while the rest of the civilized world's taxes are calculated automatically and delivered on the back of a postcard, the tax system in the USA remains unnecessarily complicated.

Speaker 2 thanks to endless lobbying from accountants and tax prep software companies. And you really think your elected representative cares about what's best for the common man?

Speaker 2 Only in your wildest American dreams?

Speaker 21 I think too many people lay around and wait for things to happen. But if nobody comes out and speaks up in behalf of the injustice, then nothing will ever be accomplished.

Speaker 24 Is your father a hero?

Speaker 21 Yes, because now maybe people will listen.

Speaker 2 But does righteous anger justify violence? Joe Stack's daughter from his first marriage didn't think so, but she did agree with her father's actions to speak out against what she called injustice.

Speaker 2 She would later retract, labeling her dad a hero during a Good Morning America appearance, and added, quote, If he had actually just stood up to the government using freedom of speech and did all he could besides doing what he did, flying his airplane into a building and burning his house, I think that would have been more effective.

Speaker 2 We are mourning for Vernon Hunter.

Speaker 25 How is it that you can call someone a hero who gets, after he burns his house down, he gets into a plane and takes out seats, puts an extra gas tank in it, and deliberately flies it into a building to kill people.

Speaker 25 My dad Vernon did two tours of duty in Vietnam. My dad's a hero.

Speaker 2 Vernon Hunter's son, Ken, was mourning for Vernon Hunter too. Ken took umbrage with the stacked daughter's initial statements and responded, quote, A great person wouldn't have done that.

Speaker 2 Part of being an American and whether you agree with what's going on in the government or not is you pay your taxes. This isn't someone who couldn't afford to pay his taxes.

Speaker 2 He had an airplane and almost a $300,000 house. And we're talking what, like $4,000 to $6,000 he didn't want to pay? That's ridiculous.
My dad didn't write the tax law.

Speaker 2 Nobody in that building wrote the tax law.

Speaker 2 Two dead fathers and nothing to show for it. Other than a headline that's been long since forgotten, which is the only thing that violence guarantees you.
Just a blurb in the 24-hour news cycle.

Speaker 2 Another ignored notification on somebody's cell phone. That's it.
At least until some true crime podcast picks up the story years later and talks about it while sipping a sponsored Chardonnay.

Speaker 2 But still, that hardly seems worth it.

Speaker 2 Anyway, four years later, another man with a bureaucratic axe to grind terrorized the same city. while a towing industry watchdog set out to crack the case.

Speaker 2 Keeping Austin weird on this episode of Swindled.

Speaker 26 They bribed government officials to find accounting for the law. Clear violations of the A-State law clearly unethical

Speaker 26 taxpayer dollars that were wasted.

Speaker 26 Dummied up its books and records and high points.

Speaker 1 Support for Swindled comes from Simply Safe. For the longest time, I thought home security meant an alarm going off after someone broke in.
But if the alarm is already blaring, it's too late.

Speaker 1 The damage is done. That's a reactive approach, and it leaves you with that awful feeling of violation, even if the intruder runs away.
That's why I switched to Simply Safe.

Speaker 1 They've completely changed the game with Active Guard outdoor protection, designed to stop crime before it starts. Their smart, AI-powered cameras don't just detect motion.

Speaker 1 They can tell you when there's a person lurking on your property. That instantly alerts SimplySafe's professional monitoring agents in real time.
And here's the game changer.

Speaker 1 The agents can actually intervene while the intruder is still outside. Talk to them through two-way audio, hit them with a loud siren and spotlight, and call 911 if needed.

Speaker 1 It's proactive security, and that's real security. I trust SimplySafe because there are no long-term contracts, no hidden fees, and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Speaker 1 They've been named best home security systems by U.S. News and World Report for five years in a row, and I can see why.
Get 50% off your new SimplySafe system at simplysafe.com/slash swindled.

Speaker 1 That's 50% off your new SimplySafe system by visiting simplysafe.com/slash swindled. There's no safe like SimplySafe.

Speaker 27 Good morning, commissioners. My My name is Pat Johnson.
I'm founder of Texas Toying Compliance, and I hear from victims all across the state every day.

Speaker 2 Patrick Eugene Johnson had turned his life around.

Speaker 2 After spending three years in prison on a felony theft charge in the early 80s, Pat had made an effort to stay on the right side of the law, except for that one time in 2002 when he got busted with a little pot in Williamson County.

Speaker 2 But that's about as victimless as a crime can get. Pat Johnson would never never hurt anybody.

Speaker 2 In fact, after retiring due to poor health from his 40-year career as a tow truck operator, Pat Johnson had shaped himself into somewhat of a hero in Texas.

Speaker 2 In 2006, he launched Texas Towing Compliance. It was an organization dedicated to helping people understand and navigate the complex laws and regulations related to the towing industry.

Speaker 2 As a former industry insider, Pat Johnson was all too aware of how predatory towing companies could be.

Speaker 2 He had seen them cut shady deals with apartment complexes to tow resident vehicles at will and split the take.

Speaker 2 And he had seen how some of them would damage a vehicle during transport and pretend it never happened. Pat Johnson decided to fight back.
He dedicated his time and money educating the public.

Speaker 2 Illegal signage, unlicensed operators, safety violations, you name it. Pat Johnson had seen it.
and he could recognize it a mile away.

Speaker 2 Johnson dispersed his free advice all over the internet, posts on his blog, and on Reddit advised people to give Texas Toying Compliance a call if they ever felt victimized.

Speaker 2 He would work with the college pro bono to win compensation and even serve as an expert witness in court if need be.

Speaker 2 Pat would also make frequent appearances at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation meetings, and he would speak publicly in front of the Austin City Council.

Speaker 2 where his passion was on full display.

Speaker 30 Folks, my name's Pat Johnson. I'm president of Texas Toy and Compliance.
We're the statewide victims organization for victims of illegal toying across the state.

Speaker 27 Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Pat Johnson.

Speaker 30 Good morning, Commissioners.

Speaker 8 My name is Pat Johnson.

Speaker 27 I represent Texas Toy and Compliance.

Speaker 28 Of course, we take calls 24-7.

Speaker 30 Even people call when I was in the hospital.

Speaker 2 People still call it.

Speaker 31 Today, I'm going to talk to y'all something that's affecting our entire community across all the districts, which is predatory toying.

Speaker 19 Today, I'm going to show y'all how their tow record drivers are ripping the citizens off.

Speaker 28 And And do you want your children riding in the front seat of a tow truck with a wretched sex offender? Or do you want a child molester showing up at your house to do electrical work in your home?

Speaker 28 We've got to quit playing politics with people's lives.

Speaker 31 Bottom line. Remember, we voted y'all to represent us.
The previous council didn't do that because they were bought off with campaign donations disguised as bribes.

Speaker 28 And I know for a fact that Perry wouldn't put people up here who would do what's best for the interests of the public. It's not always about business.

Speaker 28 It's businesses who want to survive and businesses who are put out of business because of corruption within the toying industry.

Speaker 2 So remember, Mr.

Speaker 28 Denton, you really should consider stepping down because you are a disgrace to the state of Texas and to the people of this agency and to the many licensees that you've issued licenses to who don't deserve a license.

Speaker 8 Thank you.

Speaker 2 Thank you, Mr. Johnson.

Speaker 19 I'm glad you're feeling better.

Speaker 2 Everybody knew Pat Johnson's name, especially the local news organizations. Pat would call or email them almost every single day with news tips that he found on the road.

Speaker 2 When he wasn't sharing his knowledge or lecturing bureaucrats, Pat was usually patrolling the city of Austin in his Toyota Camry on the lookout for towing companies that were violating the law.

Speaker 2 And his camera was always rolling.

Speaker 32 There's a collision that happened over here at 7th and Springdale.

Speaker 32 Somebody picked up a collision rotation, but they didn't clean up the goddamn debris from the crash.

Speaker 32 To leave that shit on the side of the road and not pick it up, it's just proof that APD lets these tow companies get away with doing nothing.

Speaker 29 It's total bullshit. All right, these signs down here at the Taco Bell, these signs are illegal as well because it has to state unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owners,

Speaker 28 apostrophe S or operators' apostrophe S expense.

Speaker 33 We're out here in Cedar Park and we're going to get some video of the scam that's going on out here at Tarchy's Tacos.

Speaker 13 I noticed you ain't got no markings on your tow truck.

Speaker 35 Oh, I do. Where they at?

Speaker 35 We posted having a fixed to the tow truck. Are you that guy who drives around fucking rolling tow trucks? I know your points.
I'm watching your YouTube videos.

Speaker 13 Texas towing compliance.

Speaker 35 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Texas towing compliance. But Thorn and the side of every towing neighbor do well in Austin, Texas.

Speaker 2 It would seem like a thankless job to most, not to mention salary-free, but for Pat Johnson, it was a way of life.

Speaker 36 That's how the Johnson family is.

Speaker 34 My dad was a foot-head football coach.

Speaker 34 And

Speaker 34 that's just how hard we are. We always have people left.

Speaker 2 It was true. Pat was always helping people out.
I probably call 911 more than the average citizen does.

Speaker 2 Johnson announced during one city council meeting, reporting anything from drunk drivers, stranded citizens, stranded motorists, road hazards, collisions, crime in progress, and I got to where I know a lot of those call takers.

Speaker 2 They know my voice. They sure did.
Pat Johnson had also become known for being a mentor to the troubled teenagers in the trailer park where he lived.

Speaker 2 Some of them would even ride along on his Saturday night towing compliance violation hunts. Pat says it helped keep them out of trouble.

Speaker 2 Though his heart seemed to be in the right place, Pat Johnson, also known as Texas's only real predatory towing watchdog, garnered his fair share of criticism too.

Speaker 2 Obviously, the towing companies hated him. They could not understand his obsession with following them around and snitching on every minor infraction.
Just go sit down or something.

Speaker 2 But some drivers worried that Pat Johnson was more than just a pest. One owner of a towing company told the Austin American statesman that she felt physically threatened by the man.

Speaker 2 In a Facebook post, Johnson had compared the woman's company to ISIS and included her home telephone number. Pat had also tagged the school that her pre-teen children were attending.

Speaker 2 It was no secret that sometimes Pat Johnson's passion would boil over to anger.

Speaker 2 For instance, one of the articles on his website was titled, The Best Way to Deal with a Predatory Tow Truck Driver is to Shoot Them.

Speaker 2 Okay, maybe there was a little cause for concern, but in the grand scheme of things, Patrick Eugene Johnson seemed like a minor threat, at least to everyone outside of the towing business.

Speaker 2 And besides, as the rest of Austin, Texas would soon find out, there were much scarier things to be worried about.

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Speaker 24 You need to watch out on Interstate 35. Police believe someone is once again throwing rocks on the interstate.
They are crashing onto cars as recently as this weekend.

Speaker 2 On June 14th, 2014, a little after two in the morning, a 36-year-old musician named Kenneth Johnson had just clocked out from the South Austin bar where he worked and was headed home for the night.

Speaker 2 He drove his red Nissan Pathfinder north on Interstate 35, which splits the city in half and passes directly through downtown.

Speaker 2 When Kenneth reached a portion of the interstate near 38th Street that separates and elevates into two different sections, known by locals as the upper and lower decks, a large object smashed through his windshield, bounced off the dashboard, and struck him in the face.

Speaker 2 Kenneth Johnson lost control of his vehicle going 70 miles per hour and it crashed into the median.

Speaker 2 He was transported to the hospital with a broken jaw and severe head injuries. A portion of his skull had to be removed.

Speaker 37 He has a prosthetic all the way through his head

Speaker 37 and

Speaker 37 he had a stroke

Speaker 37 after he had the brain surgery. He had aneurysm and they had to go in and it burst.

Speaker 2 Kenneth would never fully recover. It took over a year for him to learn how to walk again with the help of a cane.
Even today, he still has trouble speaking.

Speaker 37 How are you?

Speaker 8 Good.

Speaker 8 Good? You good?

Speaker 37 Do you miss your friends in Austin?

Speaker 2 Pat Johnson, no relation to the victim, was on his usual early morning towing compliance patrols at the city center that night when he witnessed the accident and called 911.

Speaker 2 Pat told the police that he had not seen anything suspicious. nor had he seen anything thrown.

Speaker 2 Investigators asked those questions because they had found a softball-sized rock in Kenneth's truck covered in blood.

Speaker 2 Less than two weeks later, three other drivers reported similar occurrences on that very same stretch of highway. These were not isolated incidents.

Speaker 19 Two more possible rock throwing cases along I-35 that happened just minutes apart.

Speaker 23 We have three new cases to report tonight of someone throwing rocks at cars in Austin on Interstate 35. Police confirming tonight two new rock throwing attacks along Interstate 35.

Speaker 23 Police took more than a dozen new reports from drivers hit by rocks over the weekend. Today, we've had approximately 41 incidents that have occurred.
13 different cars were hit.

Speaker 24 Well, there have been at least 60 rock-throwing reports since the summer of 2014.

Speaker 2 A year and a half later, more than 60 cases of rocks being thrown at random cars on I-35 have been reported.

Speaker 2 Initially, investigators believed the suspect was dropping them onto the highway from the overpasses above.

Speaker 2 There were no fences on the bridges to prevent that from happening, nor were there any cameras to capture any leads.

Speaker 2 However, as time went on and the cases piled up, the police became convinced that the rocks were being thrown into traffic from an oncoming vehicle, which allowed for minimal witnesses and a quick getaway.

Speaker 2 Luckily, most of the injuries had been minor, but it was clear that the suspect was not going to stop until someone was killed.

Speaker 2 The Austin police recommended that the public avoid driving on the lower deck of I-35 if possible, and for their own safety, to stay in the right lane of the highway at all times to be further away from the oncoming traffic and the rocks.

Speaker 2 Of course, some people refused the reasonable recommendations because this is America, and it was their God-given right to be smashed in the face with a rock, or something like that.

Speaker 2 This is Austin Police Chief Art Ocevedo addressing the public anxiety in January 2016.

Speaker 20 Okay, good afternoon. First of all, I wanted to welcome you all and thank you for coming here on short notice.

Speaker 20 Today I'm going to talk real briefly about the rock-throwing series of attacks we've had on our freeways, primarily the 35 freeway, that's been going on now for about a year and a half.

Speaker 20 First and foremost, I want this community to know that this police department, from the onset of the series of attacks, has taken this incident very seriously.

Speaker 20 We have dedicated approximately 15,000 hours, I'll say again, 15,000 hours of investigative time to trying to

Speaker 20 identify,

Speaker 38 capture,

Speaker 20 and refer to prosecution the person or persons responsible for these callous, cowardly attacks on innocent motorists here in the city of Austin in the Austin area.

Speaker 2 Chief Ocevedo also announced that the Austin Police Department, with the help of the Greater Austin Crime Commission, were offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the attacks.

Speaker 2 Texas Governor Greg Abbott would later offer an additional $6,000.

Speaker 2 We're not going to rest and we're going to catch you, Chief Ocevedo promised. Idiots like this will get caught.
My only hope is that no one gets killed before the person is caught.

Speaker 2 The attacks continued.

Speaker 19 That brings the total number of reports to 83 since APD began investigating nearly two two years.

Speaker 24 In clean time, more than 80 cases along I-35, some people severely injured. Police Chief Art Acevedo says it has happened 94 times since June of 2014.

Speaker 29 I thought I got shot. I mean, it is

Speaker 30 just terrifying.

Speaker 10 I mean, one minute, you're just headed home, and the next minute, I mean, it literally felt like a missile. uh coming through the window uh through the windshield

Speaker 2 pat johnson had come across the immediate aftermath of several rock-throwing incidents during his nightly patrol. He would pull over, check on the victim, and notify the authorities.

Speaker 40 Okay.

Speaker 15 What's your name?

Speaker 39 Pat.

Speaker 40 Pat Johnson.

Speaker 36 Yeah.

Speaker 2 In fact, ever-vigilant Pat Johnson himself had actually fallen victim to the attacks. On more than one occasion, apparently.

Speaker 2 Pat traveled the interstate in the early morning hours more than the average person, so the odds of getting hit were in his favor or not, depending on how you look at it.

Speaker 2 But even with all that he had seen in the past year and a half, Pat hadn't yet been able to crack the case for the police. Although he was pretty sure who was responsible for all of this terror.

Speaker 2 One night I was going up the water up on Lord Deck. Bam! Bristol Brock comes in the windshield.

Speaker 2 And thank God the boy wasn't with me. And

Speaker 2 after I got hit a couple more times, I started looking out for him.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 then we found out that there was four gangs that were throwing all kinds of things, not just rocks, batteries, bicycle frames, you name it, the cars for initiation to get in their games.

Speaker 2 It was the Teseratos, the Brown Trites, the Latin King, and the Gangster Disciples.

Speaker 2 Mexican street gangs were the culprits, according to Pat Johnson. But neither he nor authorities had any definitive proof.

Speaker 2 One man had been arrested for throwing rocks at cars in early June 2016, but his methods did not fit the modus operandi of the serial attacker.

Speaker 2 In fact, there was still zero evidence linking anybody to those crimes, which were still occurring frequently. There was no evidence until a few weeks later.

Speaker 2 A University of Texas police officer came forward with dash count video footage that he suggested may be useful to the rock thrower investigation.

Speaker 2 About a month earlier, on May 15th, 2016, Sergeant Eric Johansson was driving northbound on I-35 around 2.30 a.m. when he noticed a large object hurling through the air in his direction.

Speaker 2 Sergeant Johansson slammed on his brakes and the object bounced in front of his car. There was no damage to report, so Johansson continued on his way.

Speaker 5 I saw it coming towards me and it seemed like it had skipped up off the ground. And, you know, it's not uncommon for there to be debris on I-35.

Speaker 5 And I nowhere near a bridge, so the rock thrower wasn't anywhere on my mind.

Speaker 2 But that was before APD had announced that the rocks were coming from oncoming traffic, not bridges. When Sergeant Johansson received that update, it jogged his memory, and he retrieved the video.

Speaker 2 In it, you see a softball-sized stone being launched over the median wall and disappear underneath his car. But more importantly, there's only one vehicle coming from the other direction.

Speaker 2 There was nobody else who could have thrown it. And the license plate was visible.
The police had their man.

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Speaker 24 After more than 90 attacks and several serious injuries, police say they have arrested the primary I-35 rock thrower.

Speaker 19 Pat Johnson, seen here, is a name that is well known by police, the news media, and folks at City Hall because he positions himself as a community activist in Austin.

Speaker 19 He's now charged with aggravated assault for throwing rocks at cars on Interstate 35 and a string of crimes that resulted in blood on steering wheels, brain damage, and more.

Speaker 2 At 4 a.m. on June 16th, 2016, the Austin Police Department's SWAT team surrounded trailer number 50 at the Frontier Valley Mobile Home Community in southeast Austin.

Speaker 2 Neighbors reported seeing a dozen men and flashbangs at the scene. Patrick Johnson and his 19-year-old roommate were taken downtown to the offices of the Organized Crime Division.

Speaker 2 The evidence against Pat Johnson was damning.

Speaker 2 Not only was that his Toyota Camry in the video of the attack on the UT officer, there were scrapes on the inside of that Toyota Camry that were consistent with the kind left behind by Rocks.

Speaker 2 Furthermore, APD had set up license plate readers along the interstate, and now that they knew which license plate to look for, they were able to place Johnson near the scene of most of the attacks.

Speaker 2 And then perhaps Pat Johnson's boldest and most incriminating move, he would arrive on scene to the accidents he caused or call them into the news, pretending like he had just stumbled upon them, playing the role of a concerned citizen.

Speaker 38 We're confident that he, after committing his crimes, these vicious,

Speaker 38 cowardly crimes, turned back and came back to the scene. Came back to the scene acting as a good Samaritan, acting as he was a witness, acting as if he cared.
And I'm here to say that he didn't care.

Speaker 2 When questioned, Johnson's roommate admitted to being in the car twice when a rock was thrown. Pat Johnson himself also admitted to throwing two rocks, but only as a test.

Speaker 2 He claimed that he was trying to figure out how the attacker was pulling it off so he could hunt them down.

Speaker 2 Patrick Eugene Johnson was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon while potentially more serious charges were pending. None of his neighbors were surprised.

Speaker 11 People here are tired of him. They're tired of you.
You've done a lot of damage to the neighborhood, to the kids in the trailer park, Frontier Valley Trailer Park, and time has caught up with you.

Speaker 11 Paybacks of

Speaker 19 the people have come to me that this man, Patrick Johnson, was going around

Speaker 19 giving the kids in the neighborhood candy and ice cream and trying to lure him into his trailer.

Speaker 2 That's not true. Pat Johnson was not using candy and ice cream to lure kids into his trailer.
He was using drugs and money.

Speaker 2 After his arrest, the media reported that Pat Johnson was already awaiting trial on charges not related to throwing rocks.

Speaker 2 In 2012, Johnson was arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child after a teenage boy told police about his relationship with the compliance freak.

Speaker 2 When the victim turned 13 years old, Pat Johnson began to offer the boy 20 bucks or a bag of weed for the opportunity to perform oral sex on him. Other times, the gift was beer and cigarettes.

Speaker 2 The first time it happened, according to the affidavit, quote, both Victim and Johnson had been smoking weed when at some point Johnson told Victim to pull his pants down.

Speaker 2 Victim stated that Johnson forced himself upon him, where he then gave Victim a blowjob.

Speaker 2 According to the victim, this occurred as many as 100 times over a two-year period. Maybe more.
The victim also told the police that Johnson had drugged him during at least one visit to the trailer.

Speaker 2 When the victim woke up, Pat told him that he had, quote, sucked his dick again and handed him some cash.

Speaker 2 While attending therapy and counseling sessions at the juvenile detention center, the victim realized he needed to tell somebody about this experience with the old man, an experience that Pat Johnson denied.

Speaker 2 Pat said he had done nothing but help the boy like he had done for so many others. The victim was just angry that Pat had turned him in on a drug offense, Pat alleged, and this was his revenge.

Speaker 2 Patrick Eugene Johnson was indicted on three counts of sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child.

Speaker 2 He got out on bond and immediately started harassing the victim and eventually started throwing rocks.

Speaker 19 Today, a jury found accused I-35 rock thrower Pat Johnson guilty of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Speaker 22 A jury also found him guilty of two counts of indecency. The jury took just an hour and a half to come to that decision.

Speaker 2 On September 2nd, 2016, Pat Johnson was found guilty in the sexual assault of a child case and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Speaker 2 The rock throwing trial was scheduled for the following year, but until then, even behind bars, Pat Johnson kept doing what he did best, pestering the media.

Speaker 41 Hello, is this Pat?

Speaker 13 Yeah.

Speaker 2 In a conversation with reporter Sarah Navoy at CBS Austin, Pat Johnson tried to explain himself but failed miserably. At first, he told the story of throwing the two rocks as a test.

Speaker 2 Miss Navoy tried to remind him that it was still a confession of guilt.

Speaker 41 But, Pat, you do realize that a confession is evidence.

Speaker 41 Do what?

Speaker 41 Your confession that you threw the rocks, that can be used as evidence against you, so.

Speaker 31 But I did not throw the rocks in the arena saying I threw the rocks in.

Speaker 41 You were just throwing them to test out kind of how they were doing it.

Speaker 2 That's correct.

Speaker 2 Later, Pat Johnson told a different story and for the first time revealed his motive, which he would later repeat in court.

Speaker 2 Listen, you can hear the exact moment when Pat realizes he has said too much.

Speaker 41 In your opinion, throwing rocks, was that helping people or hurting people?

Speaker 2 And how so?

Speaker 36 Well, it was taking drunk drivers. It would take it drunk drivers and drug loads all 35.

Speaker 2 By throwing rocks?

Speaker 36 Well, yeah, it does. You know, how many drunk drivers do you know that would call the police by the rock being thrown through the woodshield?

Speaker 36 Done.

Speaker 41 Okay, so you were targeting drunk drivers then?

Speaker 34 Oh, yeah, we got a lot of them.

Speaker 41 Oh, with rocks?

Speaker 41 Yes.

Speaker 2 There were also glimmers of rage and impatience sprinkled throughout the conversation that you might expect to hear from someone capable of committing such acts of violence.

Speaker 36 I got hit three times, too.

Speaker 2 Where did you get hit?

Speaker 34 I felt bad for all the innocent people getting killed by drunk drivers on 35.

Speaker 34 That's what, you know, I pulled up on so many fatality wrecks

Speaker 34 caused by drunk drivers that APD wouldn't address.

Speaker 34 the turn he stomach.

Speaker 2 But ultimately, the vigilante would express remorse.

Speaker 36 I apologize to the victims.

Speaker 36 May we have many years to come.

Speaker 36 In God's name, I pray amen.

Speaker 2 On April 13th, 2017, Pat Johnson pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Speaker 42 How do you plead?

Speaker 42 Guilty. Okay.

Speaker 42 And you're pleading guilty because you did these acts, correct? I plead guilty or I am guilty. Okay.

Speaker 2 He told the judge that he had been living with HIV for over 35 years, which had affected his judgment. Johnson said his illness was the defining reason why he had decided to plead guilty.

Speaker 2 In county jail, Johnson claimed to have had an allergic reaction to the medicine that he had been given. He lay dead in a hospital bed for over five minutes, he said.

Speaker 2 Pat felt he might fare better in a state prison where the health care was at a higher level. He was assured.

Speaker 42 I guess, you know, the Lord has already forgiven me for my actions.

Speaker 42 The Lord is the only one who knows when we're going to come and go.

Speaker 42 And, you know, I've,

Speaker 42 you know, I feel like I've been

Speaker 42 bigger sentence just in these 40 years.

Speaker 42 I've got the sentence of the AIDS disease.

Speaker 42 And

Speaker 42 although I'm the only person in Travis County to get 35 years

Speaker 42 of living with this disease, I know that sooner or later it's going to kill me because

Speaker 42 my organs have been all attacked, all have been,

Speaker 42 have suffered a lot.

Speaker 42 And

Speaker 42 I just, when the Lord is ready for me to come home, I'm going to go home.

Speaker 42 Thank you, Judge. Okay.

Speaker 42 Good luck to you.

Speaker 1 We're off with her.

Speaker 2 Patrick Eugene Johnson was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his rock throwing spree. He will serve those 40 years concurrently with the 99 years from the sexual assault case.

Speaker 2 Pat Johnson will die in prison. Which was music to the ears for some of his victims.

Speaker 24 What would you say to Mr. Johnson now?

Speaker 24 Wow.

Speaker 11 That's a tough question, but I think I would say

Speaker 11 enjoy the rest of your life in prison.

Speaker 2 That's James Joseph. His vehicle was hit by a rock on May 28th, 2016.
Joseph was driving his two sons to a baseball tournament in Round Rock.

Speaker 2 when a rock shattered his windshield and bounced out through the sunroof. Fortunately, everyone was okay.

Speaker 2 Unfortunately, Kenneth Johnson was not okay. But the man whose life had been most affected by Pat Johnson's violence was thrilled to hear the news when the arrest was made.

Speaker 2 How do you feel, Kenny?

Speaker 2 Yay!

Speaker 2 He's busy.

Speaker 2 It's kind of bitter squeeze, you know.

Speaker 2 And if you need another reminder that life is not fair, Kenneth Johnson's father died during the first year of his recovery.

Speaker 2 Afterwards, Kenny relocated to Houston to live with his mother and then later his aunt.

Speaker 2 At the time of his accident, a GoFundMe fundraiser was created to help cover the cost of Kenny's egregious medical bills and living expenses, while some of Kenny's other friends organized the benefit on his behalf at the bar where he used to work.

Speaker 15 An uphill battle for one of Austin's first rock-throwing victims is now meeting another challenge.

Speaker 15 After suffering severe brain damage, Kenneth Johnson filed suit against a longtime friend he says never turned over the proceeds from a benefit.

Speaker 2 Swindled is written, researched, produced, and hosted by me, a concerned citizen, with original music by Trevor Howard, aka DeFormer, aka California's only real predatory towing watchdog.

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