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

John Herbert Sawchak, 54, faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, stalking and bias harassment.

The victim, Davis Moturi, installed a security camera at his home to capture evidence of the escalating threats. Video of Wednesday night’s incident shows him pruning a tree near the property line of Sawchuk’s apartment building before a “pop” is heard. The victim then collapses 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 in the hall, curled up in the fetal position, in agony,” 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 had suffered a small-caliber bullet lodged near his spine. The angle of the puncture wound indicated that he had been hit by a bullet from above and that the bullet had passed through his neck before fracturing his spine and at least two ribs.

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

A year of threats

The couple purchased 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 apartment neighbor on the second floor.

“It’s been hell,” Davis Moturi said of the ongoing ordeal.

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

Other incidents included threats to “put the victim in the hospital” while working on a ladder, objects being thrown at him from a second story window, and menacingly holding a knife in his hand. window while threatening the couple. As recently as October 14, Sawchak pointed a gun at the victim from his window. Many of the threats were laced with insults and racial slurs, according to the complaint.

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

“I had to call the cops numerous times,” Davis Moturi said.

Months without arrest

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

A spokeswoman for Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty said her office charged Sawchak with threats of violence in July “due to his behavior toward Mr. Moturi” and issued a warrant for his arrest. In filing charges in connection with Wednesday’s shooting, prosecutors became aware of several incidents that occurred since the arrest warrant was issued.

“Mr. 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 prosecutor’s office said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to hold Mr. Sawchak accountable and protect Mr. Moturi, his wife and the community at large from his violent behavior.”

Ward 8 City Council member Andrea Jenkins – who represents the Moturi family – sent a letter with support from other council members expressing outrage that Sawchak was never arrested based on these outstanding arrest warrants and was left to terrorize a family who had reported repeated threats.

“We write today with utter horror at the MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from a clear, persistent, and widely reported threat posed by his neighbor,” states the letter addressed to Mayor Jacob Frey and Chief Brian O’Hara.

The letter alleges that MPD failed to submit reports to Moriarty’s office when the Moturis reported that Sawchak had threatened them with a knife and then with a gun in the weeks before the shooting. Additionally, the letter states that “MPD told the HCAO that it did not intend to execute the warrant ‘due to officer safety concerns.’

“The MPD’s inaction made Mr. Moturi wonder: ‘Am I not 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 DA’s office of the county and failing to arrest the suspect,” the letter states. . “We also have many questions about how and why MPD leadership and the mayor allowed this situation to escalate. »

MPD did not respond to multiple requests for comment from 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, but Chief O’Hara is expected to address the situation at a press conference later Friday afternoon. This press briefing will be broadcast on KSTP.com and on our YouTube page.