By Rebecca Chaisson
Managing Editor
A Crowley man faces multiple felony charges for a carjacking in Eunice that ultimately ended with a shootout with police, a high-speed pursuit from the scene of the crime, and a horrific crash at a busy intersection.
According to Louisiana State Police, Dusty Rudolph Johnson, 35, of Crowley, allegedly attempted to kidnap a Eunice homeowner at gunpoint on Wednesday, June 3.
Police stated that Johnson drove a Chevrolet Trax to a residence in Eunice, then stole the Eunice woman’s 2019 GMC Sierra as she was trying to leave. Investigators said he later fired at a patron at a gas station, returned to his victim’s residence, intentionally set the Chevrolet Trax on fire and opened fire on responding officers before once again fleeing in the stolen truck.
Johnson was eventually taken into custody near the intersection of Louisiana Highway 13 and Louisiana Highway 1111 in Crowley after a crash ended the pursuit. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later booked on numerous charges, including attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, carjacking, attempted aggravated kidnapping and aggravated flight from an officer.
For the victim, however, the terrifying ordeal is measured not by the number of charges in the suspect’s police report, but by the moments she believed she might never see her family again.
Sandy (last name withheld) said she was preparing to leave her home for the walking park when she noticed a silver vehicle pull in her driveway unusually close to her house.
At first, she assumed the driver might be a delivery worker. Then she noticed Texas license plates.
“I pulled up a little bit, and here he comes around his car,” she recalled. “He said, ‘I had to roll into your driveway and park right here because I ran out of gas. … Can I get some gas from you or can you bring me to the gas station?’”
It didn’t make sense to Sandy that he would pull into her driveway so close, so she told the man that she was not the home owner (she was the house-cleaner) and that she couldn’t help him with gas. Then she called her brother in law, who lives just a few houses down from her, while the man stood there and waited for help.
She is fortunate he answered her call. Seconds later, Johnson pointed to the side of her house and said, “Look, your house is on fire.”
“I’m telling you, he wanted me to look away,” she said. I said, ‘No sir, the house isn’t on fire; I just came out of the house and it’s fine. But somebody is coming.’”
Sandy said when she said help was on the way, his entire demeanor changed. Everything felt wrong in that moment.
“As he was coming toward me, he had this big black hoodie on, and he had his hands in the hoodie,” Sandy continued. “When he moved his hand, I saw the barrel of a pistol. So I’m thinking to myself, okay, you’ve got to get out of this because I feel like he’s coming into my space and he’s going to throw me in this truck, and if I get in that truck, he’s going to rape me or kill me.”
He came close enough to her that she still remembers his smell. She said she has watched enough Dateline to know what happens next.
“I just took off running. The field next to my house is mine, then it’s my parents’ house who passed away, and they have a gate. I knew if I could just get to that gate … but because it’s been raining so much, the field was so wet. When I took off running, I ended up falling and hurting my shoulder.”
When asked what was going through her mind in that moment she was motionless on the ground, she knew he was either right on top of her or was going to shoot her in the back when she stood back up.
“It’s like I couldn’t get up, but I just had this feeling that my mom and dad are still watching over me, and it’s like I caught my second wind, and I just got up somehow and took off,” she said. “I knew if I could get through the gate by my mom’s house, that I was okay. I just had to get through that field, but because it was so muddy, it was hard to run in the mud.”
Finally, she reached her sister’s home, where her brother in law, who had heard her screams, ran to meet her at the gate.
From there, they watched as Johnson climbed into her pickup truck and drove away.
Her brother-in-law immediately followed while on the phone with police to report the crime. When the suspect stopped at a gas station along Highway 13, Sandy said he rolled down the window and fired the gun, striking her brother-in-law’s vehicle as he pulled in to the station.
“Thank God he was a bad shot,” Sandy said. “The bullet went through his headliner and he had glass all stuck in his neck and his had and his legs. But he’s okay, thank God.”
Police were less than five seconds behind Johnson as he fled the parking lot.
For reasons investigators have not explained, the suspect eventually returned to Sandy’s property, where he set fire to the vehicle he had originally arrived in.
Responding officers quickly pulled in behind him, and according to investigators, that’s when Johnson opened fire.
Sandy witnessed the exchange from her sister’s house, where she had fortunately stayed after the carjacking instead of returning home.
“He started shooting at police,” she said. “This was like a freaking movie, but we were there to see all of it. The cops were behind their doors, they shot him in the shoulder. He got in the vehicle, he went through our field, then jumped the ditch. Cops said he was going 105 mph, and was going about 100 mph when he hit that person in that white vehicle. Thank God they are alive.”
Despite the chaos, Sandy said she never questioned the actions officers took that day — including the pursuit that followed, despite the crash.
Since the incident, she has seen criticism on social media from people questioning why police continued chasing the suspect at such high speeds.
As a victim who feared for her life, she offers a different perspective.
“Eunice police were here, and let me tell you, they were awesome,” she said. “I want people to know (Johnson) came back to my house Everybody’s asking, ‘Why did they chase him?’ Because he almost killed me. He almost killed my brother-in-law. He almost killed a police officer.”
“I think the man needed to be stopped.”
While the pursuit ultimately ended in a major accident, Sandy believes law enforcement officers acted appropriately throughout the ordeal, and credits them for responding quickly, confronting an armed suspect and continuing to pursue him despite the danger to themselves.
“They tried to arrest him at my house,” she said. “They did everything they could.”
She also praised firefighters who quickly extinguished the burning vehicle before the flames could threaten her home.
For Sandy, the most difficult part came after the flashing lights disappeared.
Sleep has been elusive.
The day after the incident, she said she managed only a few hours of rest despite her husband rushing home from offshore work. He had only just arrived to work earlier that same morning.
“You see this stuff on TV,” she said. “But this is real life.”
As the Louisiana State Police investigation continues, Eunice Police Chief Kyle LeBouef said the department remains committed to transparency and is fully cooperating with investigators.
Because the case remains active, LeBouef said the department will defer to State Police regarding the release of any investigative details.
The chief did, however, offer praise for all officers involved.
“I want to commend the officers of the Eunice Police Department as well as the City Marshal’s Office for their swift response, professionalism and courageous actions during a critical incident,” LeBouef said. “Because of the quick decisions and decisive actions taken by our officers, a female victim who was in imminent danger was spared from what could have been a tragic and potentially fatal outcome.”
LeBouef said he is proud of the “bravery, training and dedication” displayed by all officers involved, “as they were committed to protect an innocent life and ensure the safety of others,” the chief summed up.