Judge orders competency evaluation for Minneapolis man accused of terrorizing, shooting his neighbor

John Sawchak, the south Minneapolis man accused of shooting his neighbor in the neck in broad daylight after years of threatening behavior, will be subject to a competency evaluation before determining how his pending cases will move through the courts.

Judge Jean Burdorf, who has overseen previous cases involving Sawchak, ordered a rule 20.01 evaluation on Monday morning in Hennepin County District Court. That evaluation will determine if Sawchak is mentally fit to stand trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, stalking and harassment that culminated with the shooting of Davis Moturi on the afternoon of Oct. 23.

"Please cooperate with that assessment and be as frank and honest as you can be," Burdorf told Sawchak. "If the assessor says you are competent we're just going to move forward with your case."

Sawchak, whose consent is not required for the judge to order the evaluation, questioned the decision.

"I disagree with what happened prior to your making the decision," Sawchak said. "What happened to instigating me and escalating me to a place of sickness."

That accusation followed a similar line of argument that Sawchak made at his first court appearance last month when he asked Burdorf, "How do I go about getting restraining orders against these people who have been stalking me?"

Moturi was shot once in the neck while pruning a tree near the property line he shares with Sawchak. The bullet fractured his spine and broke two ribs. Moturi had tried in vain for months to get the Minneapolis Police Department to intervene over Sawchak's behavior.

The shooting of Moturi was the latest in a long line of threatening behavior alleged to have been perpetrated by Sawchak in the south Minneapolis neighborhood where public records indicate he has owned his home at 3527 Grand Av. S. since 1992.

His mental competency has been questioned in the courts for years.

Sawchak has had two previous criminal cases dismissed after he was found mentally incompetent. In 2013, he pulled a fire alarm at his home. When a police officer showed up, Sawchak asked the officer if he was "going to do anything about the neighbors?"

Sawchak also had a disorderly conduct charge dismissed over mental incompetency. That case from 2016 allegedly involved Sawchak pulling a knife on his neighbor who was letting his dog out.

That same year, Sawchak was civilly committed after being found guilty of obstructing the legal process after slashing the tires of an off-duty Minneapolis police officer.

The "order for commitment as a person who is mentally ill" was signed by Judge Elizabeth Cutter. It noted that Sawchak "is ill with paranoid personality disorder, unspecified bi-polar disorder vs. schizophrenia spectrum disorder vs. delusional disorder which is a substantial psychiatric disorder of his thought and mood, grossly impairing his judgement, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, and ability to reason to understand."

Because of his mental illness, Sawchack "engages in grossly disturbed behavior or experiences faulty perceptions," the order said.

This new order for a competency evaluation will allow the psychological examiners services program with the Minnesota Judicial Branch to look at all of Sawchak's past mental health evaluations and court documents. They will also be able to interview Sawchak.

Since 2007, Sawchak has been a party to 10 court petitions seeking an order for protection based on allegations of harassment, stalking, window-peeping and various forms of assault. The previous claims prompted at least five criminal complaints, starting in 2016, outlining increasingly threatening and violent behavior in the Lyndale neighborhood. His only conviction, so far, is for slashing the tires of a Minneapolis police officer.

The Moturi family had repeatedly asked to have Sawchak arrested over his behavior. Even after Moturi was shot, it took police five days to arrest Sawchack — ending with a late night SWAT standoff where MPD officers shattered his windows and used heavy machinery to tear holes into the home's upper floor.

The perceived lack of police action led to increasing criticism of how the Minneapolis Police Department had handled Sawchak's behavior and the complaints of the Moturi family, culminating in a contentious City Council meeting on Oct. 31.

Amid the fallout, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara considered resigning in October, knowledgeable sources who requested anonymity told the Minnesota Star Tribune. Some claimed he went as far as drafting a resignation letter.

O'Hara, who was at first defensive of his department's actions but later apologized and acknowledged it failed Moturi, told the Star Tribune he felt uncertainty about whether he might be fired or forced out in the wake of the public outcry.

"That could happen at any time. I'm human. I have a wife, and I have a family; I've got to think about them," O'Hara said.

Sawchak's next court appearance will be on Dec. 31, when the court will receive his competency evaluation and determine what comes next for his case. If he is found fit to stand trial, he will appear again in court on Jan. 6.

Liz Sawyer and Paul Walsh contributed to this story.