Police seek man accused of holding woman hostage, assaulting grandchild

Allegheny County Police have issued an arrest warrant for a Wilkinsburg man who faces a long list of charges in an incident early Sunday in which a woman was held hostage in her apartment and one of her grandchildren was assaulted.

County police identified the suspect as Johnny Johnson, 25, of Franklin Avenue. Police said Johnson fled before police arrived.

According to a criminal complaint, Wilkinsburg police responded at 2:07 a.m. to a woman screaming for help in an apartment in the 1200 block of Wood Street.

The woman told police she was being pistolwhipped while her three grandchildren were there.

The complaint said Johnson, a family friend who called the woman to see whether he could visit, tied her up with the intention of robbing her.

A gold necklace was removed from a jewelry box during the incident, police said.

One of the grandchildren told police she was punched in the face, held at knifepoint, forced to undress and was sexually assaulted.

The woman was treated at UPMC Presbyterian, while the grandchild was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The other two grandchildren also were taken to Children’s for evaluation.

Johnson is charged with aggravated assault, robbery, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, indecent assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and carrying a firearm without a license.