Port resident again not guilty due to mental illness

A 61-year-old Port Washington man who was found not guilty by reason of mental disease of attacking police officers in 2014, then was charged last year in a series of criminal cases with stealing from a gas station, harassing patrons at a restaurant and threatening his neighbors, has again been found not guilty because of mental illness.

Mark T. Jancoski pleaded no contest in Ozaukee County Circuit Court last week to felony counts of attempted theft and bail jumping.

In two-phase insanity cases, it is first determined whether the defendant committed the crime, then if he is responsible for it. In Jancoski’s case, Judge Sandy Williams accepted his pleas and found him guilty, then, based on a doctor’s report, found that he was not guilty by reason of mental disease.

Williams ordered the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to prepare a report that will help her decide how long to commit Jancoski to the custody of the department and how he will be monitored during that time — in an institution or the community.

She has scheduled a hearing to make that determination on June 5. Jancoski, meanwhile, is being held in the county jail.

Ten other charges against Jancoski were dismissed as part of a plea agreement but read into the record, which means Williams can consider them when determining his commitment.

Jancoski’s most recent run-ins with the law began when he was arrested on Jan 14, 2023, after an employee of the R Store South gas station and convenience store in Port Washington reported that Jancoski had attempted to steal a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and a carton of cigarettes. The employee said he grabbed the merchandise and struggled with Jancoski to prevent him from stealing the items.

Jancoski returned to the store later, stole two 12 packs of Mountain Dew and drove away, according to a criminal complaint.

An officer spotted his car and attempted to pull it over on Highway LL, but instead of stopping Jancoski drove to his apartment and parked his car.

When the officer approached the car to speak with Jancoski, he became belligerent and started talking about a plutonium leak, the complaint states.

Other officers arrived, and while Jancoski complied with commands to get out of the car, he began walking away and said he needed to show them something. He suggested they call the bomb squad.

An officer grabbed Jancoski, who resisted arrested. After an unsuccessful attempt to tase him, three officers wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Jancoski was released from jail in lieu of a $1,000 signature bond and again arrested on March 23, 2023, when police officers were called to the Highland House in Mequon by employees who said Jancoski had been at the restaurant, left, then returned and became irate at a group of customers who were sitting where he had been.

The employees said Jancoski repeatedly said he “owned this (expletive) restaurant” and that he didn’t have to pay or leave, according to the criminal complaint filed in that case.

When officers arrived, Jancoski tried to push past them, told them to get away from him and called them pigs. He called one officer a Jap, telling him, “Get the (expletive) outta the country, Jap,” the complaint states.

Three officers had to pin Jancoski against a wall in the crowded restaurant to handcuff him.

A day later, on March 24, 2023, Port Washington police received a report from Jancoski’s neighbor that Jancoski harassed him, his girlfriend and his father as they moved out of an apartment complex in Port Washington.

The man said Jancoski told them they “better watch their (expletive) vehicles” and “better watch their backs,” according to a criminal complaint.

Officers who are familiar with Jancoski because of his previous run-ins with police said his behavior has been erratic and sometimes paranoid and that he has been aggressive and confrontational, the complaint states.

The officers called Jancoski to ask him if he would come to the police station to discuss an unrelated investigation. Jancoski said he would stop at the station around 8 p.m. the next day after he picked up his car from the Highland House in Mequon.

Jancoski didn’t go to the station, but an officer saw him speeding on West Norport Drive at 10:40 p.m. and attempted to pull him over. Jancoski, however, sped away at 50 to 60 mph in a 25-mph zone, and because he was driving erratically, the officer did not chase him.

Jancoski was later arrested and has been held in the county jail since then in lieu of $25,000 bail.

In the 2014 case, officers went to Jancoski’s apartment after one of his neighbors reported that Jancoski told him he had a knife and threatened to “gut him like a pig,” according to the complaint filed in that case.

Officers attempted to contact Jancoski, then, due to his “deteriorating mental state,” forced their way into his apartment, the complaint states.

One officer saw a knife on a table and attempted to grab it, but Jancoski beat him to it.

Another officer attempted unsuccessfully to tase Jancoski, who then charged at the officer, threatened to kill him, pulled his hair and grabbed him by the neck, according to the complaint. The officer suffered a bruised larynx.

Jancoski punched another officer in the face before being subdued and arrested.

Jancoski pleaded no contest to felony counts of strangulation and suffocation and battery to a police officer and was found not guilty by reason of mental disease. He was committed to a mental health institute, then later released, according to court records.