On the run again: Prosecutors say Jonathan Pogreba contacted wife, violating conditions of bail



Jonathan Pogreba



WAUKESHA COUNTY -- The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force is involved in the search for Jonathan Pogreba, along with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department.

Pogreba, 43, spent more than two weeks as a fugitive after a domestic violence incident in the Town of Eagle on June 5. On June 21, Pogreba surrendered after 16 days off the grid. FOX6 cameras were rolling as deputies arrested him at the Waukesha County Courthouse.

Court records show Pogreba skipped a court hearing in Waukesha County Monday morning, Nov. 12, after he was released on $150,000 bond — posted on Oct. 29. A bench warrant was issued for Pogreba after he failed to appear in court, and he was charged with two counts of felony bail jumping.

Pogreba faces six charges, three felonies and three misdemeanors in connection with the alleged domestic incident in Eagle, filed in June:


    Pogreba home



    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.

    A new criminal complaint was issued in connection with the two new counts of bail jumping. 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."

    Jonathan Pogreba



    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."

    The complaint says on Nov. 8, officials received a "strap tamper alert" that came from a ShopKo in Delavan -- indicating a GPS device had been cut or damaged. Officials attempted to contact Pogreba but his phone went straight to voicemail.

    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."