A judge found Dustin Travis Johnson, 41, guilty of breaking into a garage on Bluegrass Trail and stealing nearly $20,000 of tools, equipment, and miscellaneous food items last July following a trial held in Rockbridge County Circuit Court last Tuesday.
Johnson was charged with four felonies: one count of breaking and entering to commit larceny, one count of grand larceny, one count of larceny of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a non-violent felon within 10 years of conviction.
He was convicted on all four counts by Judge Christopher Russell, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for Nov. 2.
Humberto Poretllez, the attorney prosecuting the case for the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, first called Donald Altizer Jr., the owner of the garage and the majority of the stolen property.
He testified that on the evening of July 25, 2025, he went out to the garage at his property located at 3669 Bluegrass Trail. When he got there, he saw that the garage door was open and found part of the lock that had been on it broken on the ground. He testified that he hadn’t been to the garage since July 21 and that the doors had been closed and locked when he left.
Inside the garage, Altizer found several items were missing, including a 2017 Honda Rancher camouflagepatterned four-wheeler, which he estimated had a value of $10,000. There was a gun rack on the four-wheeler which had a Charles Daly 20-gauge pump action shotgun, which was also missing. There were also several tools that had been taken, including two Husqvarna chainsaws which Altizer said had Sthil brand bar covers, a Milwaukee brand leaf blower and several wrench and tool sets.
Additionally, Altizer said that several food items, including two Ziploc bags of frozen trout, a box of Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies and several bottles of juice, were also taken, as well as several cans of Kayak brand peach-flavored smokeless tobacco. Altizer testified that he had gotten the tobacco in Covington because it was difficult to find at tobacco stores in the area.
The four-wheeler was found in a field at 477 Forest Oaks Road behind some large hay bales. Deputy Jake Tomlin with the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office testified that he had followed up on a lead from a citizen that the four-wheeler had been seen there and found it. He photographed it and was able to identify it with the VIN number Altizer had provided him on the night of the break in. Altizer said that the four-wheeler “had mice nesting in it” and the battery had died, indicating that it had been sitting in the field for some time.
Two other officers with the sheriff’s office testified about the investigation.
Investigator Ryan Mc-Cullough testified about a search warrant executed at 3416 Bluegrass Trail, where Johnson was believed to reside as the house had belonged to his parents before they died and is owned by Johnson’s sister.
A search of the residence found two Ziploc bags of frozen trout in the freezer and three cans of Kayak brand peach-flavored chewing tobacco in a trash can in the kitchen. Also in the trash can was an empty case for a nine-piece wrench set that matched one Altizer had reported stolen. Johnson was not found at that residence at that time.
Lt. Chris Young testified that, a few days after the break-in, the investigators received information that Johnson was living in a shed on a property on Springfield Lane in Natural Bridge.
When officers with the sheriff’s office arrived, they found Johnson in the shed. When he exited and was taken into custody, Young said he conducted a “safety sweep” of the shed and confirmed no one else was inside. Inside, he saw a can of Kayak brand peach-flavored tobacco, which was documented as evidence.
Young also testified that there was a white minivan outside of the shed and inside of it, in plain view through the window, he saw a Husqvarna chainsaw with a Stihl bar cover. The chainsaw was later documented and collected as evidence, and Altizer identified it from a photo as one of the chainsaws that had been stolen from his garage.
Also recovered from the shed was a phone, which Young said was playing music when officers first entered the shed. McCullough testified that he had conducted a search of the phone and found that it had been used to log into several accounts with emails connected to Johnson, and also found several Google searches related to Honda Rancher four-wheelers, including whether or not they had tracking devices on them. At least one photo of Johnson was also found on the phone.
Several witnesses testified to seeing Johnson with several of the stolen items, including the four-wheeler.
The first, Matthew Miller, said that he had known Johnson for 10 years and that he had seen Johnson with the four-wheeler “near the church on High Bridge Road” in Natural Bridge in late July 2025. He said that Johnson had called him and asked him to pick him up there. He also testified to having seen several other items taken from Altizer’s garage, including the shotgun, the Milwaukee leaf blower and one of the Husqvarna chainsaws, at Johnson’s residence on Bluegrass Trail.
Miller also testified that Johnson had asked him if he knew anyone who might be interested in buying some of the items. Miller said that he reached out to a Michael Hickman and asked whether he’d be interested in buying the shotgun, and later took Johnson to Hickman’s residence to conduct the sale.
Hickman later testified, confirming that he’d bought a shotgun from Johnson for “around $200, $250” but couldn’t remember when the transaction had taken place. When shown a photo of the shotgun Altizer identified as the one stolen from his garage, Hickman confirmed it was the one he’d bought from Johnson, noting that “it had the coin in it,” referring to a distinctive gold medallion inlaid into the butt of the shotgun.
A third witness, Shane Ferguson, also testified that he had been contacted by Johnson and met him in the field on Forest Oaks Road one night, at which time he said Johnson attempted to sell him the four-wheeler. Ferguson testified that two other people arrived with Johnson, but he didn’t see who they were and never interacted with them. He ultimately didn’t buy the four-wheeler, but identified the four-wheeler and location as the one photographed by police. He also said that the following day Johnson had contacted him with a video call and had shown him several items he was also trying to sell, including a Milwaukee leaf blower and some tools.
Both Portellez and Johnson’s attorney Cameron Wheeler noted the fact that Miller, Hickman, and Ferguson are convicted felons. Miller pled guilty to several felonies in 2016, including larceny and forgery; Ferguson has several convictions in Buena Vista related to drugs and probation violations and pending drug possession and driving under the influence charges in Rockbridge County; and Hickman was convicted of one count of rape of a minor in 2007 and is a registered sex offender.
Before giving his ruling, Russell acknowledged that all three witnesses had been impeached due to their previous convictions, but noted that each had testified about “brief, memorable encounters” with Johnson, which he felt supported the credibility of their testimony.
Wheeler did not present any evidence for Johnson’s defense, but argued in a motion to strike that there was no evidence linking Johnson to the break-in at Altizer’s shed other than an apparent proximity to some of the stolen items, which he argued was not enough evidence to convict him of the breaking and entering charge, at the very least.
Portellez argued that Johnson not only had possession of the items, but also made efforts to sell some of them – and successfully sold the shotgun – thus “exercising dominion over” the items, suggesting more than simple proximity to the items.
Russell agreed with Portellez and dismissed the motion to strike. Neither side offered any closing arguments and Russell found Johnson guilty of all four charges.
