Man hits a black woman w/ his car-Jesus told him to do so

[Dionysus]

Man says he drove into woman at bus stop because she is black
By Heather Ratcliffe Post-Dispatch
01/30/2003 09:09 PM


Steven C. Johnson, a salesman who displays an American flag in the front window of
his home in St. Peters, was never known to utter a racist word, his neighbors said.

So those who know Johnson are baffled that he made a U-turn Monday to run down a
woman waiting for a bus in University City and told police he tried to kill her simply
because she is black.

When officers found him sitting behind the wheel and his victim unconscious under his
car, Johnson told police that Jesus made him do it.

Eleanor Hickerson, 56, a retiree who lives in University City near where she was struck, was seriously
injured but is expected to recover fully.

Johnson, 47, of the 500 block of Wyatt Drive, was charged Tuesday with first-degree assault and
armed criminal action. He is held with bail set at $250,000.

Officials said the two were not acquainted.

On Monday, Hickerson was headed to a bank when she was struck just after noon. She had walked
two blocks from her home to a bus stop on Olive Boulevard at Meyer Street. That's where she'd been
catching the bus for several years, after her eyesight deteriorated to the point where she couldn't drive.


Cherie Tunstall, her daughter, said Hickerson usually stood back away from the street because she
feared traffic rushing across the four lanes of Olive.

Hickerson doesn't recall seeing the car that struck her, Tunstall said. Hickerson reached up to put on her
hat when suddenly everything went black, she told family and police.

But other witnesses said they saw Johnson.

He had just left his job up the street at a spice company. He drove past Hickerson then turned his 2000
Chevrolet Lumina around. Johnson steered his car left across two lanes of traffic onto the sidewalk
and struck Hickerson, authorities said. His car continued more than 100 feet, dragging her underneath,
before it crashed into a brick building.

Employees at West St. Louis Glass Co. called police when they heard the thud against their wall.

Not until officers arrived did they realize Hickerson was lying unconscious beneath the car. Police said
they found Johnson sitting calmly at the wheel. He was alone but told police that two people were in the
car at the time of the collision - "Bad Steven and Jesus."

He used several racial slurs, police said. And he claimed to be doing the work of God.

Hickerson suffered internal bleeding and serious cuts to her knees, arms and head, family members
said. She remained in a hospital Thursday.

"We're all scared and shook up about it," Tunstall said. "I'm still puzzled what made him do what he did."

Johnson lives in a neighborhood near Laurel Park in St. Peters with his daughter, who is in fifth grade.
His wife, Kathleen Boeckman-Johnson, died six years ago.

Johnson operated his own restaurant until it failed recently, neighbors said.

One of them, Laurie Viehman, said her family had invited Johnson over to watch football games a few
times. She described him as nice, but quiet.

Hickerson, who worked for 30 years as a customer service representative for Southwestern Bell,
retired about five years ago. Now she spends most of her time with her sisters shopping and trying
new restaurants.

She grew up in St. Louis with five sisters and three brothers. She bought her home in University City
about three decades ago.

"My mom is the nicest lady. She doesn't bother anybody," Tunstall said. "I don't understand why anyone
would want to do this."

The maximum penalty for the crime is life in prison. If prosecutors decide it qualifies as a hate crime,
they could ask for a stiffer penalty, said Don Schneider, spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecuting
Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.

Tunstall said her mother might never recover from the psychological effects of the attack. It's a miracle
the driver didn't kill her, the daughter said, adding, "But that's what he intended to do."

Susan Weich of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.