Feb. 21—ROCHESTER — A jury pool has been dismissed in a court case against a Rochester man who poses as a teen online to catch alleged child predators.

Chase Taner Johnston, 29, faces three felony charges in Olmsted County District Court. A trial on the charges, which include false imprisonment, stalking and felony fifth-degree assault, was scheduled to begin this week. Proceedings regarding jury instructions began Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. When jury selection continued Wednesday, the pool of potential jurors in the case was dismissed midday on the grounds of courtroom decorum, court officials said.

Chase was “wearing an inappropriate piece of clothing in front of the jury,” Kyle Christopherson, communications specialist with the Court Information Office in the Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office. Christopherson did not immediately reply to a question about what was inappropriate about the clothing.

District Court Judge Christa M. Daily ordered a new pool of jurors to be brought in Friday with selection beginning then. Questions to the jurors will likely continue Monday with the trial beginning early next week, Daily said.

The charges against Johnston stem from an alleged incident July 23, 2023 at a Northwest Rochester Apartment complex. According to the criminal complaint,

Johnston shoved and blocked a man from leaving a complex.

Johnston had been chatting with the man via texts. Johnston initially told the man he was 20 years old then said he was 16.

Johnston, who describes himself as a pedophile catcher, has been using social media to pose as a minor online, set up meetings with people and take video of him confronting those people. Johnston would post the confrontations on his now-defunct YouTube channel. One encounter resulted in Johnston being convicted of fifth-degree assault July 7, 2023 from a May 2022 confrontation in a Rochester gas station.

The charges Johnston currently faces are felony level because of that incident and a domestic assault conviction.