Eugene Man Convicted in 2020 Riot Arrested for Failing to Appear

Arei Mathias Johnson, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to felony riot and several misdemeanors for his role in a chaotic night on West Seventh Avenue, was arrested by Eugene Police on March 19 on a bench warrant that had been outstanding for nearly four years.

Johnson, 31, whose address is listed in Gresham, was released on his own recognizance following the arrest and has a court date scheduled in April. The bench warrant traced back to his failure to appear at an April 4, 2022 hearing tied to his sentencing after the 2021 conviction.

The original charges stemmed from the night of May 29, 2020, when Johnson joined 50 to 100 rioters who marched onto the westbound Interstate 105 offramp to West Seventh Avenue around 9:30 p.m., advancing on and surrounding two police vehicles with officers inside. Eugene Police said Johnson walked in front of one of the police vehicles and refused to move while someone else used a board to break the windshield.

The confrontation with police was not the only incident that night. Johnson was also seen entering a Sprint location on West Seventh Avenue through a window broken by looters, taking items from the store and throwing them onto the sidewalk, according to an EPD news release. Police further alleged that Johnson stood in front of a civilian vehicle surrounded by rioters who were yelling at the driver and beating the car. He then jumped onto the hood, walked up the windshield to the roof and stomped on the sedan's windshield, breaking the glass before jumping off.

The riot followed a racial-justice march held in Eugene in response to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Johnson entered guilty pleas in 2021 to felony riot and misdemeanors including burglary, menacing, interfering with a police officer and disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to three years of supervised probation. His failure to appear at the April 2022 sentencing hearing triggered the bench warrant that led to his arrest last week.