A man accused of shooting a neighbor in Minneapolis had a history of threats and intimidation

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Minneapolis man after a year-long pattern of harassment and intimidation against his neighbors culminated in a shooting earlier this week, according to court documents.

John Herbert Sawchak, 54, is charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, stalking and intimidation committed because of bias.

The victim, Davis Moturi, installed a security camera at his home to capture evidence of the escalating threats. Video of the incident on Wednesday evening shows him trimming a tree near the property line of Sawchak’s apartment building before a “bang” is heard. The victim then falls backwards to the ground.

“I was like, ‘I need help.’ Part of my brain shut down,” Davis Moturi told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS from his hospital bed on Friday.

He called his wife, Caroline Moturi, who ran home.

“I found him – he was standing in the hall, curled up in a fetal position in pain,” Caroline Moturi said.

She took her husband to the hospital, but he did not realize he had been shot.

According to a criminal complaint, a medical evaluation revealed that Davis Moturi was shot with a small-caliber bullet that lodged near his spine. The angle of the stab wound indicated he had been shot from above and the bullet entered his neck before breaking his spine and at least two ribs.

Caroline Moturi told police that Sawchak “almost certainly” shot her husband, the complaint said.

A year of threats

The couple bought their home in the 3500 block of Grand Avenue South in September 2023. Since then, they told police they have faced numerous threats from Sawchak, who lives in an adjacent second-floor apartment.

“It was hell,” Davis Moturi said of the ongoing ordeal.

The week before the shooting, Sawchak had told Moturi, “Touch my tree again and I will kill you.” He had already threatened Davis Moturi about the tree in October 2023.

Other incidents included threatening to “put the victim in the hospital” while he was working on a ladder, throwing objects at him from a second-story window and menacingly holding a knife in his window while he threatened the couple. As recently as October 14, Sawchak had pointed a gun at the victim from his window. According to the complaint, many of the threats were laced with racial slurs and insults.

In total, the Moturis had reported 19 incidents of vandalism, property damage, harassment and threats in the year they lived next door.

“I had to call the police so many times,” Davis Moturi said.

Months without an arrest

Online jail records show Sawchak has not yet been taken into custody. Court records show he has at least three other outstanding warrants related to “threats or acts of violence” against the victim and his neighbors.

A spokesperson for Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office charged Sawchak in July with threats of violence “as a result of his conduct toward Mr. Moturi” and issued a warrant for his arrest. When prosecutors filed charges in connection with Wednesday’s shooting, they were made aware of several incidents that have occurred since that arrest warrant was issued.

“Sir. Moturi and his wife have suffered from Mr. Sawchak’s aggressive behavior for more than a year after purchasing their house in September 2023,” the Public Prosecution Service said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to hold Mr. Sawchak accountable and protect Mr. Moturi, his wife and the broader community from his violent behavior.”

Andrea Jenkins, councilor for Ward 8 – representing the Moturi family – sent a letter with the support of fellow council members who expressed outrage that Sawchak was never arrested on these outstanding warrants and was left to terrorize a family who had repeatedly complained.

“We write today with utter disgust about MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from a clear, persistent and well-reported threat from his neighbor,” said the letter to Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

The letter alleges that MPD failed to file reports with Moriarty’s office when the Moturis reported that Sawchak had threatened them with a knife and then a gun in the weeks leading up to the shooting. Additionally, the letter states, “MPD advised the HCAO that they do not intend to enforce the order ‘for officer safety reasons.’”

“The MPD’s inability to act leaves Mr. Moturi wondering, ‘Am I not a human like you?’ We echo Mr. Moturi’s heartbreaking question about why MPD failed to protect this Black resident from a clear and serious threat, and why they continue to do so by failing to cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office and arrest the suspect,” the statement said. letter. . “We also have many questions about how and why MPD leadership and the mayor allowed this situation to escalate.”

Chief O’Hara lashes out

During a fiery news conference Friday, Chief O’Hara defended his police department’s handling of the case and blamed the media, the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office, the Minneapolis City Council and even the victim for allowing the dispute to continue. resulted in violence.

O’Hara said officers attempted numerous times to arrest Sawchak, but he never came out of his home or responded to police who tried to make contact.

He said that given that the suspect is mentally ill and is known to have a firearm, there is a good chance that executing a high-risk search warrant would result in a violent confrontation.

“We wanted to arrest the suspect in a place where he would be least likely to have access to firearms. That’s outside the residence,” O’Hara said, adding that through Wednesday, MPD only had a warrant for threats Sawchak made. “Unfortunately, the suspect in this case is a recluse and does not leave the house often.”

O’Hara blamed Davis Moturi for failing to notify an MPD lieutenant when Sawchak left the house. He said Davis Moturi should have left the tree alone on his property after Sawchak threatened him about it.

“The situation escalated in part due to actions provoked by the victim,” O’Hara said.

The chief then addressed “the current rhetoric surrounding policing,” saying it “impedes our ability to make lawful arrests.”

“Anyone who suggests that the police do not want to arrest this person is simply wrong. To be honest, though, the officers are scared. They fear being prosecuted if they make a mistake in trying to do their job and protect the public,” O’Hara said. “…It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

The chief also expressed frustrations with the letter from council members, claiming no one had tried to call him before it was sent. Jenkins, who attended the news conference, told reporters that she had contacted O’Hara, Frey, Moriarty and an MPD inspector “many, many times” before Wednesday’s shooting.

O’Hara answered only two questions from the news media before leaving the briefing room, but Councilman Jenkins followed him into a hallway, where they had a heated discussion behind a closed door before ending with an embrace.

Jenkins did not mince his words when asked about O’Hara’s comments about officers being afraid to confront Sawchak in his home.

“I can tell you this: We pay our officers a lot of money to do the job they signed up to do, so they have to be willing to do their job,” Jenkins said. “I think that’s what the police chief said, that everyone has to do their job.”

Moturi said “he knows there is no defense for what happened” in response to Chief O’Hara’s explanation during the news conference. He called O’Hara’s comments insulting and disagreed with his account of events. According to Maturi, “When I asked for help, crickets.”

He also told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the suggestion that his actions contributed to the shooting was “so disrespectful and so rude.”

“They treat me like I’m the criminal because they messed up and they have no way to explain it,” Moturi said. “I feel like I’m being treated this way because of the color of my skin.”