Sonoma State University Police Chief Nathan Johnson on paid leave after brawl with stepson

Sonoma State University’s police chief, Nathan Johnson, was placed on paid administrative leave while he is under investigation for his role in a brawl with his stepson at their Hayward home during which Johnson fired a handgun into a wall, school officials said Wednesday.

Capt. Dave Dougherty will serve as acting chief of the school’s police department. Johnson is also executive director of the campus enterprise risk management division, and university officials said the position will be held by Senior Director Tyson Hill during the investigation.

Both Johnson and his stepson, 20-year-old Elijah Latimer, were injured in the fight, which was reported at about 10:30 p.m. Monday at the family home in the Fairview District of the Hayward Hills, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

A sheriff’s spokesman said that the men gave conflicting accounts of what took place. Johnson had head injuries and Latimer suffered stab wounds to the chest and a possible collapsed lung that investigators suspect was caused by a power drill, sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said deputies are working to determine who was the primary aggressor in the attack. Johnson told deputies he fired a shot into a wall as a warning shot in an attempt to end the fight.

Johnson, who has worked in law enforcement for more than 35 years, has been police chief at Sonoma State’s Rohnert Park campus since 1999.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.