CHARLESTON —A newspaper delivery person has filed a lawsuit against the couple who accused him of selling drugs and threatened him with a loaded firearm.
M. Jason Pauley delivers newspapers for Charleston Newspapers and on July 22, 2020, he was at the intersection of Woodfield Lane and Smith Road in Kanawha County at about 2:15 a.m., when John Johnson approached the open passenger-side window of Pauley's vehicle, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Pauley claims Johnson questioned if he was selling drugs to Johnson's child, and Pauley explained he was delivering newspapers. Johnson was dissatisfied with Pauley's answer and demanded to know if Pauley thought he was joking.
"In turn, before hearing an answer, the defendant ... began firing his weapon alongside and parallel to the vehicle from the spot where the weapon and the sequelae of the gunfire ... were visible to Mr. Pauley through the open front passenger window," the complaint states.
Pauley claims he sat in shock and feared for his life and attempted to compose himself while Johnson returned to his own vehicle. Pauley claims as he prepared to leave, Johnson returned, pointed his gun at Pauley's face and ordered him to exit the vehicle.
The plaintiff assessed at that moment that his chances of surviving the incident would be best served by silently refusing to comply with the defendant's demand to exit the vehicle, according to the suit. Johnson then left and Pauley called 911.
After Pauley began the 911 call, Amy Johnson, John Johnson's wife, arrived and also accused Pauley of selling drugs to their child, according to the suit.
Pauley claims the defendants were negligent and reckless in their actions.
In separate handwritten answers to the complaint, the defendants deny liability for Pauley's injuries.
Pauley is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by David R. Karr Jr. of Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-579