Crips party not acceptable probation activity

By Linda Cicoira

In Accomack County Circuit Court Thursday, a former Oak Hall man appeared to have straightened up his life. He had gotten sober, moved to Suffolk, and obtained a good-paying job as a firewatcher at the Portsmouth shipyard.

But then, 31-year-old Lamonty Demetrius Johnson Jr. was seen in a video posted on Facebook at a birthday party in his honor on Dec. 18, 2024. A probation officer said he was wearing the color of the street gang, the Crips, which is blue, while flashing gang signs, holding a gun, and associating with other gang members. As a certified gang member and felon, these things are prohibited while he is on probation for burglary, grand theft, and unlawful wounding. Johnson also owed about $160 in restitution from the crimes.

The defense lawyer and the probation officer both said the video depicted the defendant hesitating before picking up the weapon. Three handguns were on a table near the birthday cake. The lawyer said it was a surprise party. Court records show Johnson’s birthday is in October.

“His first instinct was to not participate in this,” the lawyer said. But, “his cousin threw” the party, and “he let his enthusiasm for his cousin” take over.

“It could not be more concerning,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan. “He didn’t get dressed in the video, he came dressed” in a blue letter jacket, the prosecutor said.

Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. revoked his probation and sentenced him to six months in jail, half of which he has already served. It was reported that Johnson still has about 10 years hanging over his head. He was placed on two years of supervised probation and five years of good behavior.

In another case, Tanisha Danielle Pearsall, of Mappsville, was sentenced to ten years in prison for distributing cocaine. All but seven months of the term were suspended.

working two months ago. The crime was committed. on Oct. 30, 2023. She claimed she gave the drugs to friends at a party. She was ordered to undergo drug abuse treatment. She will be on good behavior for five years.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox said the most concerning thing in the case was the drugs were loosely kept around the house where children live.

Thirty-six-year-old David Martin Brickwood Jr., of Cambridge, Md., pleaded guilty to assault and battery of Deputy M. Steele and DWI that occurred on Nov. 1, 2024. Brickwood screamed at and berated the officer before kicking him in the chest. A blood test for alcohol showed him at .22 when the legal limit is .08.  Brickwood also tested positive for THC and cocaine.

     He is free on bond while attending a treatment program that will end in November, at which time he is scheduled to be sentenced. The maximum terms for the offenses total six years. There is a six-month minimum.