In November 2005, Johnson was arrested at the
Excalibur nightclub in Chicago's Cook County for possession of a handgun in his sport utility vehicle. Johnson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and was sentenced to 18 months probation and 40 hours of community service.
[4] On February 12, 2006, Johnson, while still on probation, was charged with
aggravated assault and
resisting arrest after allegedly verbally threatening a police officer. Johnson was leaving Level Nightclub on Chicago's Rush Street when the police officer was ticketing a limousine driver whom Johnson had hired. As Johnson allegedly put up a struggle, he was
maced and subdued with the help of other police officers. The charges were eventually dropped.
[5]
On December 14, 2006,
Lake County police officers searched Johnson's home in
Gurnee, Illinois, and allegedly discovered that he possessed six firearms, including two
assault rifles. Although Johnson was at football practice during the search, his
bodyguard William Posey was arrested from his house for alleged possession of
marijuana. Johnson was charged with violation to probation and possessing unlicensed weapons. Bears coach
Lovie Smith deactivated Johnson for the following game against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers based on this incident.
[6]
On December 16, 2006, Johnson's best friend and bodyguard William Posey was killed in a shooting at Ice Bar in Chicago's
River North neighborhood. Posey was shot after he was allegedly involved in a fight around midnight. Posey was rushed to
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30am. Posey's assailant was not apprehended by the police.
[7] On December 28, Chicago Police apprehended Michael Selvie, Posey's alleged assailant. Selvie, a "reputed
gang member" has been implicated in over 30 other crimes. However, Selvie's defense attorney claims that Selvie does not posses a firearm or any gang affiliations. If found guilty, Selvie will face charges of
first degree murder.
[8]
On December 22, 2006, Cook County Circuit Judge John J. Moran, Jr. (Skokie courthouse, Second District, Cook County, Illinois) placed Johnson on home confinement, preventing him from driving by himself or leaving the state of Illinois.
[9] On February 8, 2007, Johnson entered a guilty plea in Cook County's Courthouse in Skokie for violating his probation.
[10] On March 15, 2007, Johnson was sentenced to a 120 days in prison (Cook County Jail) and fined $2,500 for violating his probation.
[11] On February 17, 2007, Johnson's lawyer contested a Lake County Circuit Court to drop Johnson's unlicensed weapons charges. His attorney claimed that since Johnson is a resident of Arizona, he does not have to abide to gun registration laws of Illinois.
[12] Johnson entered a plea of not guilty on 10 counts of possessing a weapon without the proper state-required ID.
[13]
On December 30, 2006, Tank Johnson contacted Gurnee Police Department to file harassment charges.
[14] This news story is at best a footnote in many articles but deserves much more recognition. The information in the references is actually there but hard to find. Local youths left a toilet seat with a harassing message on his doorstep. Local news said that "Police did not disclose what the message on the garbage can said"
[15] However, other sources claim that "Nice Job Tank" was written on the seat.
[16] In reality the words "GO TANK" was written lovingly with duct tape. This toilet seat was duct taped to a garbage can.
On April 30, Johnson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge as part of an arrangement with prosecutors that will keep him from serving additional jail time. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, which will be served concurrently with a four-month sentence he's already serving in the Cook County Jail for violating his probation; to donate $2,500 to the Gurnee Police Department and $2,500 to the Gurnee Exchange Club's
child abuse prevention program.
