Man who attacked cops in 2014 now charged in series of cases

A 60-year-old Port Washington man who was found not guilty by reason of mental disease of attacking police officers in 2014 is now charged in a series of criminal cases with stealing from a gas station, harassing patrons at a restaurant and threatening his neighbors.

Mark T. Jancoski was arrested most recently after his neighbor told police on Friday, March 24, 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 filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court.

Officers who are familiar with Jancoski because of his recent 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. on Friday after he picked up his car from the Highland House in Mequon, where he was arrested a day earlier.

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 is being held in the Ozaukee County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

A day earlier, on Thursday, March 23, Mequon police officers were called to the Highland House 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.

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

Three officers had to pin Jancoski against a wall of the crowded restaurant to handcuff him, according to the complaint.

Jancoski was also arrested on Jan. 14 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 carton of cigarettes. The employee said he grabbed the merchandise and struggled with Jancoski to prevent him from stealing the items, the complaint states.

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

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, according to the complaint.

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, the complaint states.

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

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 but was found not guilty by reason of mental disease. He was committed to a mental health institute, then later released, according to court records

He is currently charged with multiple crimes including attempted theft from a person, resisting arrest, obstructing an officer, disorderly conduct and felony bail jumping.