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5-Year-Old Somehow Survives This 130 MPH Crash That Killed Fugitive Father
Johnnathen Johnson was found crying but OK after his father's car hit a police cruiser at 130 miles per hour. (Image via Des Moines Register)

5-Year-Old Somehow Survives This 130 MPH Crash That Killed Fugitive Father

The fact that a 5-year-old boy survived a 130 mile per hour car crash that killed his father, who was fleeing from the police officers, is being called "miraculous."

The high-speed chase involving 33-year-old Jeremiah Johnson occurred Friday in several Iowa counties and ended with Johnson hitting a parked and empty police cruiser, the Des Moines Register reported.

Jeremiah (left) and Johnnethan Johnson. Jeremiah was killed when he hit a parked police cruiser at 130 miles per hour during a chase. His son Johnnethan, who was found in the car's backseat, survived and was listed in stable condition as of Saturday. (Photos via the Des Moines Register)

According to the report, Johnson's son Johnnathen was reported missing by his mother to the police in November 2012. In January, warrants were issued for Johnson's arrest in Georgia for the alleged kidnapping of his son after he was stopped by local police for running a red light and fled the scene when officers asked he exit the vehicle.

Friday's police chase began in the early morning hours when an officer spotted a car similar to that which had been described in a recent shooting report, according to the Register. Police were not able to get a correct read of the car's license plate number.

As the chase was underway, police put stop sticks and set up a roadblock, which Johnson hit about 30 minutes after driving at high-speeds. His Volkswagen was sent careening into a police car.

(Image: Police dashcam screenshot)

Watch this dashcam footage showing how an officer left his car only a few seconds before Johnson collided with it at an estimated 130 miles per hour:

Indianola Detective Sgt. Brian Sher told the Register that it wasn't known if passengers were in the car and that it was "miraculous" the 5-year-old boy found crying in the car's backseat survived while his father was killed. Police said if they had known the child was in the car, they wouldn't have engaged in the chase to prevent endangering the boy.

On Sunday, the Register reported Johnnathen being listed in stable condition at a local hospital, but he did suffer some physical injuries.

In this video, Johnson's family members talks about their grandson and son as a loving father:

In the video, Johnson's father emotionally recalled how he found out watching a television report in the morning that his son was killed in the crash.

"I did not need to see that," Duayne Johnson said.

Duayne Johnson said his son loved his Johnnathen more than anything and treated him "like gold."

In a separate article, the Des Moines Register reported more details on the custody battle over Johnnathen between Johnson and the boy's mother April Lozano:

Lozano had been given full custody of Johnnathen in July, but Johnson never gave her the child, said Sgt. Jason Halifax, a Des Moines police spokesman.

On Nov. 5, Lozano filed a missing persons report with Des Moines police, and told detectives Johnson was possibly suicidal and possibly homicidal toward Johnnathen, Halifax said.

The custody fight was a civil matter, not a criminal issue, so until Johnson ran from police last month, he would not have been arrested for having the child, Halifax said.

Johnson's family told the Register that Jeremiah believed his ex-wife was seeing an ex-convict, which might have spurred him to want to keep his son from her.

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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