2-time fugitive Jonathan Pogreba ordered held without bail pending competency hearing



WAUKESHA COUNTY -- A two-time fugitive was ordered to remain in custody pending a competency hearing during a court hearing in Waukesha County on Friday, Dec. 14.

Jonathan Pogreba, 43, appeared on felony bail jumping charges filed in November, and charges filed in June following a domestic violence incident in Eagle.

Two counts of felony bail jumping were filed Nov. 9, after Pogreba was accused of having contact with his estranged wife. Another count of felony bail jumping was filed on Nov. 30, after prosecutors said Pogreba skipped a court hearing in the June case on Nov. 12. He was released on $150,000 bond in the June case --  posted on Oct. 29. A bench warrant was issued for Pogreba after he failed to appear in court. He was on the run until Dec. 11, when he was arrested in Mukwonago.

During Friday's hearing, the court ordered Pogreba remanded into custody without bail, with the competency report ordered to be completed in 15 days. A review hearing was set for Jan. 11.

Jonathan Pogreba



Pogreba once again wore a suicide prevention vest during his court appearance on Friday. He was seen in the smock on Dec. 12, when the competency examination was ordered during his first hearing after his arrest.

Surveillance cameras captured Pogreba trying to escape a Mukwonago hotel on Dec. 11. Instead, he was captured nearby -- arrested in a vacant lot north of the hotel. He was on the run after prosecutors said he cut off his GPS monitoring device he was required to wear after the June domestic incident in Eagle. He was a fugitive after that June incident -- spending more than two weeks on the run.

Jonathan Pogreba



Jonathan Pogreba



Jonathan Pogreba



Jonathan Pogreba



Town of Eagle domestic incident

Pogreba home



Pogreba spent more than two weeks on the run after a domestic violence incident in the Town of Eagle on June 5. On June 21, Pogreba surrendered after 16 days off the grid.

Pogreba has already pleaded not guilty to the following six charges, three felonies and three misdemeanors in connection with the alleged domestic incident in Eagle filed in June:


    Jonathan Pogreba



    According to a criminal complaint, authorities were called out to a home on Wilton Road on June 5 -- where Pogreba's wife advised that she'd come home from work early and her husband was home. She said on June 4, she filed for divorce, and she said there was an argument when she got home, with Pogreba "saying something to the effect of he wanted to see the GPS on her car." They went outside, and Pogreba's wife went back in. Soon, she said Pogreba came in with a second phone belonging to her -- confronting her with it and saying "this isn't going to be good." That's when she said Pogreba pulled out a handgun from his waistband and began pointing it at her. She said she grabbed for the gun and pushed it upwards. She said Pogreba then pushed her outside and slammed her onto his car. She yelled that he had a gun, and said Pogreba told her not to scream, and that she didn't have to yell. She said she eventually ended up on the ground, with Pogreba on top of her.

    At this point, she said her son came outside with a shotgun and confronted Pogreba. At some point, she said her son fired shots from his shotgun, and Pogreba fled. The son then drove his mother to the neighbor's house.

    The manhunt began after that incident.

    Jonathan Pogreba



    "We locked our doors, which we never do. We were watchful about what was going on -- checking on the news, checking on news feeds," said the owner of Inside Designs in the Town of Eagle.

    "I would think he wouldn't come back to the area it started. I definitely feel for his family going through this, because it is a small town," said Rachel Malik, owner of 1863 Coffee in the Village of Eagle.

    Pogreba pleaded not guilty on June 29, when he waived his preliminary hearing.

    Bail jumping charges filed in early November

    A new criminal complaint was issued in connection with two new counts of bail jumping filed out of Waukesha County on Nov. 9. The complaint says on Nov. 8, a deputy made contact with Pogreba's daughter, who said Pogreba was violating the conditions of his bail by having contact with her mother. The daughter said on Nov. 7, she saw her mother with a flip phone, talking to someone. When she confronted her mother, she said the phone was given to her by Pogreba when Pogreba was released from custody. The daughter said her mother told her she and Pogreba had been in contact via the "burner phone."

    Investigators spoke with the mother, who indicated after Pogreba's release on Oct. 26, they had spoken and met "several times" at his mother's house in Lake Geneva and in parking lots in Walworth and Waukesha. She said Pogreba's mother yelled at him, saying "you aren't supposed to talk to her." She noted they had contact nearly every day since he was released. She said Pogreba bought her the "burner phone."

    Jonathan Pogreba



    The complaint notes that Pogreba's conditions of bail from his June domestic case included no contact with his wife, and that he comply with GPS monitoring.

    Online court records show Pogreba's wife filed for divorce on Nov. 13.

    She previously filed on June 4.

    FOX6 News reached out to Pogreba's criminal defense attorney, Donna Kuchler, regarding this new development. We were told "no comment."

    Possible break-in by Pogreba in Trempealeau County

    Sheriff's officials said back on June 7 they were notified by Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office that they believed Pogreba broke into a cabin in the Town of Preston while he was on the run. The caller, a neighbor to this property, reported that he talked to the owner of the cabin and was told that no one should be at the cabin.  The Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office also spoke to the owner of the cabin and confirmed this information.  Officials said the owner of the cabin is related to Pogreba and does not live in Trempealeau County.

    The Trempealeau County Sheriff's Office, with the assistance from the Blair Police Department, responded to this location and found that someone broke into the cabin and it appeared they moved on. Based on the evidence located in the cabin, the Waukesha County sheriff's officials said they believed it was Pogreba who broke in.

    There was a small amount of blood left at the cabin, officials said, and a note was left that officials believe came from Pogreba, with the note stating that he took the plates off the white BMW that he was driving and would be travelling to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota where he would leave the car and move out on foot.

    On June 7, officials released photos of the stolen BMW Pogreba was believed to have been driving -- a 2015 BMW 328XI -- a four-door sedan with Wisconsin license plates 128-YCW.

    Stolen BMW in Jonathan Pogreba case



    Stolen BMW in Jonathan Pogreba case



    Pogreba’s credit card was used in Mauston -- and officials said they were attempting to gather more information on his financial purchases.

    He was charged with criminal trespassing and theft of movable property, less than $2,500 out of Trempleau County on Nov. 28.