Gas Station Assault and Chase Ends in Next County

A story so crazy, it almost sounds like the plot of a police show.

On the evening of Feb. 21, police got a call from Anthony Gwin, 24, of Mantua. He told the dispatcher that he was robbed at the BP Gas station on East Aurora Road and was chasing the robber's car down I-480. As he was following them, he told police the thief was throwing things out of the window, one of which he thought was a gun.

Officers joined the chase and found the car turning onto S.R. 14 in Streetsboro. With backup from the Streetsboro Police, officers pulled the car over in a hotel parking lot. The car's driver, Echana Johnson, 19, of Kent, was arrested. Police also arrested three men in the car with her: Brian Robertson, 22, of Twinsburg, Brandon Sams, 20, of Kent, and Anthony Beachum, 21, of Shaker Heights.

When police talked to Gwin and his girlfriend Jamalyn King, 22, of Kent, they realized no one was robbed, but that King had been assaulted. She told officers Johnson got out of her car, parked next to them, and reached in the passenger's side window to punch King. She was then pulled out of the car and assaulted by Johnson until she was pulled off by the men she was with.

The four got into the car and sped off, followed by Gwin and King. She said she didn't know Johnson personally, but that her boyfriend, Gwin, knew Robertson. King was treated for minor injuries to her hand.

When police spoke to Johnson, she admitted there was no robbery and that she and King got into a fight. Johnson said her boyfriend, Robertson, and Gwin had been retaliating against one another for months  and when their cars were parked next to each other at the gas station, she and King began "exchanging words." She told police King got out of the car and swung at her, and that in defense she hit her, knocking her into the car. When Johnson left, the two began chasing them.

Police spoke to a witness at the BP, who backed up King's story. The man said he saw who he described to be Johnson attack King, as she sat in the car, through the open window.

The gas station had no video of the parking lot and no gun was found on the freeway during a search.

Johnson was charged with assault and released on $500 PR bond. She asked to file assault charges against King, noting a cut on her head, but officers told her that King would not be charged.

Robertson was arrested on active warrants from Twinsburg and Highland Heights.

Sams was also arrested on active warrants.