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Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are searching for a suspect accused of cutting off his electronic monitor earlier this week.
Police said Otis Steffon Johnson, 23, took off the monitor Tuesday not long after he talked with a CMPD detective about a crime. He was last seen near Beatties Ford Road.
A check of the website for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office early Thursday showed that Johnson is not yet behind bars.
Johnson was ordered to wear the electronic monitor last August after he posted pond on multiple drug and weapons charges. Police said the crime Johnson was questioned about by the detective this week was unrelated to the earlier drug offenses.
Police have issued warrants for Johnson for interfering with an electronic monitoring device, as well as for two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Anyone with information on Johnson’s whereabouts is asked to call the Violent Criminal Apprehension Team at 704-336-VCAT (8228) or dial 911.
Electronic monitors are given to certain offenders who bond out of jail. The devices are in a plastic box attached to a rubber strap, which is lined with fiber optic lines. The strap can be cut with a knife or even sharp scissors. But any slight cut triggers an alert.
Police said the department is currently has 385 offenders on electronic monitors, and Johnson is the first to cut off his monitor this year. Last year, 28 people removed their monitors but were later arrested.
