RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Former Richmond police officer Richard Daniel Johnson turned himself in to authorities in connection to a deadly crash that killed two teens.
According to police, on April 7, 2022, Johnson was called in to assist a burglary call alongside trainee DQuan Walker. 8News learned Johnson was driving 60 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone when he ran a red light and hit the car 18-year-old Jeremiah Ruffin and 19-year-old Tracey Williams were in.
In September, a judge sentenced Johnson to 21 years after he was found guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving. Twenty years and six months of that sentence was suspended.
On Oct. 6, Johnson turned himself in and will serve his six-month sentence at home through the city’s home electronic incarceration program.
“It is not something you see every day. But the fact of the matter is that this was a police officer, which by almost definition means he’s somebody who did not have a prior record. A tragedy certainly happened, and he’s been held responsible for that. But rather than put him in the jail, the judge thought that he would be a safe candidate for home electronic monitoring,” said 8News Legal Analyst Russ Stone.
Stone said Johnson may be required to wear an ankle monitor or another form of tracking device to make sure he follows his at-home incarceration rules.
According to court documents, Johnson’s driver’s license will be suspended for a year and he will be on probation after serving his sentence.
“That’s what the judge felt was the appropriate sentence. And so, most of the time, I encourage people to just accept that the system did the job right,” said Stone.
