The suspect in Friday’s encounter with sheriff’s deputies – which led to a nearby school being locked down – is a lecturer with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.
Authorities at the scene arrested Mark Hladky, who had set up a barricade at his home on Tevis Trail and prepared an array of firearms for use.
Hladky is listed as a lecturer with NPS in Monterey. He teaches as part of the Defense Resources Management Institute at the school and has been on the faculty since 2006, according to the NPS website. Hladky received a master’s of business administration from the University of Colorado in 2000.
A spokesman for the Monterey school, meanwhile, declined to comment on the scope of Hladky’s duties at NPS due to privacy issues.
“We are cooperating with police,” said Bill Clinton, chief of public affairs at NPS.
The incident involving Hladky on Friday started shortly before noon when the suspect called 911 with a suspicious report of a deceased person at his address, according to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office in a statement. Deputies responded and ended up arresting Hladky without incident, but discovered firearms such as two high-powered rifles and a slew of ammunition.
Sgt. Tony Lamonica on Monday said as deputies in an unmarked car pulled up to the scene, the suspect gradually peered his head up over the barricade.
“He was hunkered down as an unmarked car drove by,” Lamonica said. “Then he got up and he had his Kevlar helmet on and he was camouflauged out.”
Deputies, who have responded to the same home previously for domestic issues, booked the local resident into the county jail on suspected weapons and domestic charges, and denied him of bail. The sheriff’s office announcement stated that authorities were getting in contact with the branch of the military with which Hladky is active.
During the incident, authorities put nearby Spring Grove School on lockdown. The Hollister Police Department, meanwhile, helped out as well. Police Chief David Westrick said he had been off-duty doing yard work when he heard the call and recognized it was near the school. Police then assisted with the school lockdown situation, he said.
The situation with Hladky is a reminder of another serious criminal case with local implications involving a Naval Postgraduate School teacher. Authorities suspect that former NPS Professor Lawrence R. Jones in September 2012 shot his ex-wife and dismembered her, dropping the body in a wooded area off Cannon Road near Aromas.
According to the full statement from the sheriff’s office:
On January 24, 2014 the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office arrested Hladky at his home at 690 Tevis Trail. The arrest stemmed from a suspicious 911 call made from a cell phone. At 11:52 the anonymous caller stated there was a deceased person at that address.
Deputies and dispatchers worked to re-contact the caller to get more details, and in the process determined the call had come from Hladky’s cell phone.
As a precaution Spring Grove Elementary School was placed on lock-down during the incident, although due to the significant distance no children or staff was in immediate danger.
Familiar with Hladky and his address, on-duty sheriff’s deputies responded to the area and chose to utilize an unmarked vehicle to get a closer look at Hladky’s residence before responding in a marked vehicle.
As the unmarked vehicle approached Hladky’s residence, Hladky emerged from behind a freshly constructed barricade at the edge of the roadway, wearing a military style Kevlar helmet and fatigues. The barricade was constructed of sheet metal, spare tires, and multiple segments of wooden telephone poles. Ultimately Hladky obeyed the commands of the deputies, and surrendered into custody.
On his belt was an empty handgun holster. In the pockets of his clothing were several loaded rifle magazines and a loaded handgun magazine.
Behind the barricade was one high powered rifle with a scope, a high powered rifle without a scope, a pump action shotgun, and semi-auto handgun. All four weapons were loaded with the safeties in the “off” positions. In addition to the firearms, Hladky had hydration beverages, an alcoholic beverage, a blanket, binoculars, and a large bag of rifle ammo. There was a cell phone, laptop computer, and ipod plugged into a power supply.
Hladky, an active member of the armed forces, was arrested and booked at the San Benito County Jail on various felony charges. We have taken steps to notify the appropriate division of armed services.
Hladky is being held on no bail.
Deputies remained at the scene and collected all firearms which could be located at the residence.
Additionally, Hladky is a suspect in an on-going criminal investigation stemming from a Domestic Violence incident earlier this week.
A thorough search was conducted, and no deceased or injured person was located. It is believed this event was an elaborate plan to rouse law enforcement to his location and into an ambush.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the members of the Hollister Police Department and the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET) who responded to assist.
