Arrest Warrants Issued For Former Prosecutor Who Graduated From Special Drug Court

MORRIS, IL — A former prosecutor and candidate for state’s attorney who was jailed Christmas Eve on drug charges has warrants out for her arrest from two counties.

Elizabeth Johnson, 34, failed to appear in Will County court Monday and had previously missed court in Grundy County. Johnson faces a felony drug charge in Grundy and a charge of resisting the police in Will. She also has a traffic case for allegedly fleeing a crash without providing the other driver her information.

Johnson has already been taken into custody once for blowing off her cases in Joliet. When she was arrested that time — at a Morris bar on the night before Christmas — she also got caught passing off bags of coke and pot to a pal, police said.

Johnson’s resisting case stemmed from a scuffle she had with Will County deputies outside her ex-boyfriend’s house in November, police said. The boyfriend, Michael Haldorson, had reportedly called the cops on Johnson when she wouldn’t stop pounding on his door.

When Johnson was arrested that time, deputies found 10 grams of marijuana in her father’s Camaro, police said. The Camaro was reportedly stuck in the mud in a ditch near Haldorson’s Lockner Boulevard house.

Haldorson, 35, is on home detention while he faces drug and weapon charges in federal court. He was caught with cocaine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and pipe bombs while on his way to a drug deal, a federal agent said, and he had a pistol stashed in a storage locker.

Johnson represented Haldorson on the federal case for nearly a year. She has since withdrawn as his attorney.

Haldorson is scheduled to appear in court for his own case next week.

Johnson was a Will County prosecutor until September 2011. She was hired by the state’s attorney’s office after completing its special drug court program.

“Life was spinning out of control. And (Johnson) knew a felony conviction would prevent her from attending law school and becoming a lawyer. It had been her dream career since she was a girl and she would dress up with an old briefcase while pretending to be in court,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a 2011 press release.

“In the ultimate validation for the program, State’s Attorney (James) Glasgow, the same prosecutor whose office filed the felony charge against her when she was a teenager, recently welcomed her back to his office, this time as a new assistant state’s attorney in his misdemeanor division,” the press release said.

A special prosecutor has been assigned to Johnson’s Will County cases in place of the state’s attorney’s office.

Johnson ran for Grundy County State’s Attorney in the last election. Her campaign ended with her defeat in the March primary.

Johnson caught her traffic cases in May when she was charged with taking off from an accident she caused by crashing her truck into the back of another vehicle.

The other driver, Dawn Brunker, said Johnson boasted of her legal background and claimed she didn’t have to provide her with any information.

“She knew the law and she was a lawyer and didn't need to give me her insurance info or name,” said Brunker, who told Patch she snapped a cell phone photo of Johnson before she drove away.

The Will County warrant for Johnson’s arrest carries a $5,000 bond. The one from Grundy has a $25,000 bond.

Elizabeth Johnson | image via Will County Sheriff's Department