While Donald M. Johnson fends off a fresh round of criminal charges and works to pay back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes victims of his real estate scams, he has a new court case to deal with after an Illinois woman filed a lawsuit against him, claiming she was injured when Johnson’s dog bit her when she arrived at his vacation rental.

Sandra Tijerina-Fontana, of Hickory Hills, filed the lawsuit in Porter Superior Court Dec. 3, in which she claims that on April 29, 2023, she arrived at an Airbnb located at Johnson’s residence in the 200 block of North Mineral Springs Road in Porter when she was bitten by his dog.

The lawsuit, which names both Johnson and online vacation rental company Airbnb as defendants, requests a jury trial and notes that the defendants “had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the ownership and/or control of the subject dog, as well as a duty to exercise reasonable care in the commercial operation of a short term rental property to ensure that those at, on, or near the premises were not harmed or attacked by the subject dog, including but not limited to Plaintiff.”

According to an online court docket, Johnson does not yet have an attorney in the civil case.

Johnson, 59, is on probation after pleading guilty more than a year ago to a single count of securities fraud in a case that has stretched for a decade and involves multiple victims. Under the terms of the plea agreement reluctantly accepted by Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer in January, Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of broker-dealer registration violation, a Class C felony.

The additional 14 counts against him were dismissed as terms of the plea and he was sentenced to four years of probation and to pay $604,500 in restitution, the total owed to all of his victims.

One of the points of contention as prosecutors tried to come up with a restitution plan for Johnson’s victims was the state’s belief that Johnson was hiding assets from the court to avoid paying back his victims, with various properties set up in trusts though he still retained ownership.

Prosecutors said during Johnson’s sentencing hearing that those properties included a vacation rental.

Johnson landed in Porter County Jail in October after a late restitution payment, among other allegations, jeopardized his probation status. He also racked up a fresh criminal charge, a Level 6 felony count of obstruction of justice, during his Oct. 24 arrest at his parents’ rural Porter County home.

He will remain there after Clymer declined to release him on bond during a Friday court hearing. Johnson’s next hearing before Clymer, on Jan. 3, is to hear evidence on whether his probation should be revoked and whether he should serve the remainder of his sentence in the Department of Correction.

Through her Indianapolis attorney, Rudy Longman, Tijerina-Fontana, 58, said she booked the rental, a recreational vehicle on Johnson’s property, for her daughter and a few friends to stay for an after-prom get-together. She did not end up staying on the premises for the night after the attack.

Tijerina-Fontana said she suffered multiple dog bites causing torn skin and puncture wounds and still has scarring and skin swelling. The bites led to an ongoing series of medical treatments, including at the emergency room, in counseling, for pain management and physical therapy.

“I am still afraid of other dogs,” she said.

Tijerina-Fontana paid about $400 for the vacation rental, she said, and Airbnb has denied coverage for the incident.

“My payment was not refunded and no reduction was offered,” Tijerina-Fontana said.

A representative with Airbnb said the company could not comment on the lawsuit.

A report filed by Porter County Animal Control and received by the Post-Tribune through a public records request provided additional details about what happened.

Porter police called animal control after Tijerina-Fontana was bitten by Remington, a neutered male German shepherd owned by Johnson living with him on the property, according to the report. The dog was placed on a 10-day home quarantine after biting Tijerina-Fontana and was up to date on its rabies vaccination.

After a Porter police officer contacted animal control, an animal control officer contacted Johnson that day. “I confirmed his information for the bite report and explained to him the quarantine process. He was familiar with the process as this had happened once before. He agreed to follow the guidelines,” the report states.

On May 2, according to the report, animal control again followed up with Johnson, who provided a statement on what happened. He told the officer he was in the backyard with Remington when Tijerina-Fontana arrived and the dog saw her before he did, and went after her.

“He said that Remington bit her and then he was able to contain him inside of the house,” according to the report.

Johnson told animal control he had two pieces of correspondence to share. The first “was part of the Airbnb listing which advised their dog is protective of the family.

That correspondence is in the caution section of the listing on the Airbnb website.”

The other piece of correspondence was arrival information, which instructed Tijerina-Fontana to “pull into the drive by the pole barn and not the regular house as the pole barn is the Airbnb rental.” Johnson, according to the report, said Remington is on an invisible fence that runs the main property.

“He said the rental sits outside of the invisible fence so Remington does not go on that part of the property, and that is why they are told to park by the barn,” the report stated.

In her statement to animal control, Tijerina-Fontana said she arrived at the address and pulled into the driveway of the Airbnb host’s house. She got out of the car and went to the front door and nobody answered, so she walked around to see if anyone was in the back.

“When she came around the house she saw the dog and its owner. She said the dog started her direction and she went to go back to her car. She said as she went back to her car the dog ran up on her and bit her,” according to the report.

Tijerina-Fontana got in her car after Remington bit her. She said she had one avulsion, or fracture, and 10 to 12 punctures on her right thigh. EMS cleaned the wound and she declined transport to a hospital, going for treatment at an urgent care clinic in Illinois.

Remington, according to the report, was released from quarantine on May 10, 2023.

alavalley@chicagotribune.com