Gun-wielding pot grower thwarts robbery

PALMER — A Willow pot grower confronted two armed intruders last month with a pistol and drove them off, according to court documents.

The would-be victim managed forced one of the robbers to crawl to the front door at gun-point. The robber fled to a nearby house, and called for his “mommy” to come get him after vomiting and crying, according to an affidavit written by Alaska State Trooper Ron Hayes.

Lowell S. Johnson, 45, and Joshua Pate, 20, both of Talkeetna, now face counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, third-degree assault, and evidence tampering in connection with the Nov. 9 incident near Caswell. Johnson had bonded out by Friday evening. Pate remained in Mat-Su Pre-trial following his Dec. 9 arraignment in District Court on $20,000 cash or corporate bail with court-appointed third-party requirements.

Lloyd Leach — who owns a legal-sized marijuana grow of between 10 and 15 plants — was at his home on Passthebait Avenue when two men with their faces obscured knocked on his front door, according to Hayes. One wore a balaclava and was younger and slimmer, according to Hayes. The other was heavier and wore “Spandex/Stocking type stretchy material that was worn over the head, color approximately green and black in miscellaneous shape patterns.”

A home security system video showed Leach opening the door, the two men forcing their way in, and a struggle ensuing, according to Hayes.

The larger of the two intruders had a knife, and tried to stab Leach. Leach was able to fight his way free of the scrum. He grabbed a large wooden staff and struck the larger assailant in the right arm. The intruder grabbed the staff, allowing Leach to escape out the front door. Leached circled around his property and snuck back into his house via another door, then retrieved a pistol from the top of his refrigerator and confronted the two men.

The larger man fled out the front door, leaving his partner behind. The video shows Leach firing four shots in the direction of his departing car, Hayes wrote.

Leach then returned and forced the other robber to remove his mask and crawl on hands and knees to the front door, where the second intruder sprinted off into the night. The video shows Leach firing a single shot after him, Hays wrote.

Three weeks of investigation followed. Leach told troopers he suspected, based on what the unmasked intruder had told him at gunpoint, that his ex-girlfriend’s son, Chris Elving, 25, might be involved.

When troopers stopped Elving’s car later that day for driving with a suspended license, he said he had a beef with Leach over his relationship with his mom, Hayes wrote.

Elving “stated everyone in Caswell had issues with Leach but no one would do anything to him,” Hayes wrote.

Elving — who has not been charged in connection with the robbery — lived on the same property as Johnson and Pate. Palmer detachment Trooper Wallace Kirksey, who watched multiple recording angles of the video, said Johnson and Pate matched the rough physical descriptions of the two intruders.

“The male (Johnson) appeared to be slightly overweight, with a gut and fat rolls around his lower back,” Hayes wrote.

Kirskey told Hayes he knew all three men from a call where Pate had overdosed on methamphetamine earlier this year.

Under questioning on Nov. 10, Pate admitted his role in the caper, and implicated Johnson, according to the affidavit.

“Pate had a sheepish type stance and demeanor,” Hayes wrote. “Pate said he was doing better since his OD and recently got a new car.”

Pate then pointed out his new dark green Kia Sorrento, which matched the vehicle seen fleeing the scene of the robbery, according to Hayes.

According to charging documents, a witness later came forward and told troopers he’d given a man he identified as Pate a ride less than an hour after Leach had run off the bandits. The witness told troopers Pate “was crying and saying he needed to get out of there and had to open the (car) door to throw up a few times, saying it was because he had asthma,” Hayes wrote.

Pate borrowed the man’s phone and called two numbers. When the first number didn’t answer, he dialed another number, the witness told troopers. The witness said he heard Pate “speaking to someone he kept referring to as ‘mommy,’” Hayes wrote. “He (the witness) stated the male kept saying ‘Mommy please come pick me up’ before disconnecting.”

Troopers arrested Johnson and Pate on Dec. 1.

Johnson was on supervised release after pleading guilty to federal charges of being a felon in possession of a handgun. Johnson was spotted towing a snow machine stolen from a Palmer residence down the Glenn Highway in 2006, and a search of his car turned up two handguns. The source of his prior felony conviction wasn’t immediately clear, based on publicly available records.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano