Man arrested, accused of nearly choking a DCS worker to death during an interview

MESA, AZ – A DCS employee leaves the hospital after nearly choking to death on the job.

The suspect, identified as De’Andre Johnson, was arrested and faces four charges, including attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, November 5 at Mesa Tower, located near Southern Avenue and Alma School Road.

According to Mesa police, Johnson put the DCS employee in a chokehold for two and a half minutes.

The employee was working on a case involving Johnson’s daughter.

The crime was streamed live on Johnson’s social media. ABC15 has viewed the video of the victim interviewing Johnson for about an hour in the lobby of Mesa Tower.

At one point the two discuss whether Johnson’s children have been physically abused or neglected, but the employee says he doesn’t expect the case to go much further.

Still… after the two finish talking, Johnson asks the DCS worker to “dab” him. The two fist bump and then Johnson attacks.

Johnson is heard saying several times that the worker is a “dead man.”

In another Johnson livestream reviewed by ABC15, he appears to be at his daughter’s school and says he wants to know why his daughter no longer wants to come to school after being interviewed in a school conference room.

He is heard saying on camera that school staff “don’t think it’s their job to tell me that my daughter is going into a room. Like this. With the door closed with a man and they can’t tell me what happened. And now my daughter doesn’t want to come to school anymore. We have problems. Today you are going to get to know me.”

Police told Johnson at the time that DCS has the ability to interview his child.

Johnson was found guilty of aggravated assault in 2017, according to court records.

DCS provided the following statement to ABC15 regarding the incident:

“On Tuesday, one of our specialists was attacked in an unprovoked and horrific manner by a parent at our Tempe/Gilbert field office. This disturbing event took place in the building’s public lobby, and although no weapon was used, the attack was serious. enough that our specialist had to be taken by ambulance for medical treatment. There were several witnesses present and the perpetrator has now been arrested. We are relieved that the specialist has been released from the hospital and is now recovering at home with family.

Our staff continually performs difficult work under challenging conditions, and they do it with the goal of strengthening families and ensuring Arizona children can thrive. The department is committed to keeping our staff safe as they carry out this essential work, and we are conducting a comprehensive investigation into this incident in an effort to prevent it from happening again.”