Derrell V. Johnson just got out of prison June 30 after being convicted of aggravated robbery. It's likely he'll be going back if the allegations that he shot at an off-duty St. Paul police officer on New Year's Eve afternoon are true.

Johnson, 25, of St. Paul, was charged Friday in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree assault and two counts of possession of a firearm by an ineligible felon.

According to the criminal complaint, an off-duty police sergeant was driving his personal vehicle west on Brainerd Avenue near Desoto Street on the city's East Side when he saw two men walking east in the westbound lane and saw the vehicle ahead of him swerve around them.

"Hey, guys, get off the street, use the sidewalk," the sergeant yelled as he drove around them, the complaint said. Then he saw one of the men reach into his waistband, cock a handgun and fire at the car.

The sergeant saw the men run north on Desoto, called for help on his cell phone and gave the officer who arrived a description of the men. About a half-hour later, the sergeant was called to a house on Desoto to do a "show-up" of three men. He identified one of the men -- Johnson -- as the one who shot at him.

Another officer and his canine partner, Benji, had tracked the men to a house in the 1200 block of Desoto. A handgun was found in a purse in the house. A shell casing of the same caliber was found at the scene.

According to state records, Johnson served his entire three-sentence sentence for the April 2005 aggravated robbery and was not on supervised release. He is being held in the Ramsey County jail in lieu of $75,000 bail. His next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15.

PAT PHEIFER