A Superior man accused of shooting a house while deer hunting in November once again faces a felony charge in Douglas County Circuit Court.
Robert D. Janowicz, 50, of Superior faces one count of possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from the incident that occurred on the first day of the 2010 deer gun season.
This is the second time the felony charge has been leveled against the Superior man for the incident. It was originally included in a Nov. 22 complaint along with one misdemeanor count of endangering safety with the use of a dangerous weapon. The felony charge was dropped during a preliminary hearing because records of the 1983 felony burglary conviction were unclear. In one record, for instance, no birth date was listed. In another, the middle initial was used instead of the full middle name. Due to the discrepancies, District Attorney Dan Blank said, the state chose to drop the charge.
But fingerprint evidence on file with the Superior Police Department reconnected Janowicz with both the felony burglary conviction in 1983 and a theft conviction in 1981. According to the criminal complaint, although the fingerprint cards were listed under the names Robert James Janowicz and Robert J. Janowicz, respectively, they matched Robert D. Janowicz' prints.
According to the original complaint:
ADVERTISEMENT
Superior Police officers responded to South Superior on a report of gunshots being fired. They found a house along the 6300 block of Oakes Avenue had been shot. A bullet drilled through the second story wall of the home, lodging in an interior stairwell wall. If a person had been on the stairs at the time, officers noted, they would have been shot. A neighbor told police he heard three or four gunshots and heard two bullets fly over his head that afternoon. Officers checked the area to the southwest where the bullets would have come from and found Janowicz in blaze orange near his truck on Cemetery Road. He was not carrying a gun.
After changing his story a number of times, Janowicz told officers that he had taken four shots at a deer about the time the gunshots were reported. He said he moved his position for the second two shots so they would go lower. He only saw the second two shots hit the ground. Janowicz told officers he left his gun in the woods and came to see what was happening. The gun was recovered from his blind northwest of the river.
Janowicz pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge during his initial appearance Nov. 22. He remains free on a $1,000 signature bond. As a condition of his bond, he is not to possess any firearms. If convicted, Janowicz faces a maximum sentence of nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
He also signed a $1,000 signature bond for the felony charge. If convicted of the felony, Janowicz faces up to 10 years prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
