Police: Crack Deal Gone Awry Leads to Foot Chase Through Borough

A Phoenixville man faces multiple charges after police say he evaded arrest on foot after a crack cocaine deal in the borough last week.

Mark Johnson Jr., 23, was charged with escape, resisting arrest, intent to deliver drug paraphernalia, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance, and manufacture, delivery, or possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute after the alleged November 9 incident.

According to court documents, on Friday at approximately 3:16 a.m. a Phoenixville police officer witnessed Johnson and another man cross paths at the intersection of High Street and Queen Street—an area known for drug sales. When the men saw the police car they separated and quickly set out in opposite directions.

The officer called Johnson over to his car. Johnson obliged, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he approached.

The officer patted Johnson down for weapons and felt a plastic bag tied in a knot in the pocket of his basketball shorts. The officer wrote in the affidavit that he knew immediately that it was drugs.

The officer told Johnson he was under arrest and ordered that he put his hands behind his back, but the suspect had other plans. He took off on foot and led the officer on a chase that ended on Vanderslice Street and Kurtz Lane. The officer tasered Johnson, then held him to the ground while he waited for backup.

When backup arrived, Johnson was searched for the drugs, but his pockets were empty. A quick search of the chase route was similarly unfruitful.

After Johnson was released, however, an officer found a sandwich bag containing six smaller baggies of what a subsequent lab test confirmed as crack cocaine in a leaf pile near where Johnson was apprehended.

Johnson was arraigned on November 12 and confined to and ultimately released from Chester County Prison on $10,000 bail. He faces preliminary hearing on November 15.