Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Plymouth Township Chief of Police John Myrsiades announced on October 25th the arrest of 21-year-old Dalton Lee Janiczek of Lower Gwynedd, for the attempted murder of a Plymouth Township police officer.
The incident began on Friday, October 24th, at 11:56 a.m. when a Whitpain Township Police Sergeant attempted to stop a white Mercedes G-Wagon driven by Janiczek, who was said to be driving erratically. Janiczek fled at a high rate of speed and crossed over the concrete median along Skippack Pike.
Just after 12:30 p.m., a Plymouth Township police officer responded to the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel across Hickory Road from the Plymouth Meeting Mall in Plymouth Meeting (Plymouth Township) in search of the vehicle. The officer discovered the vehicle parked at the hotel and activated his emergency lights. According to the report, Janiczek put the car in reverse and struck the police car several times.
The report continues that the officer then got out of the car and told Janiczek to stop, and Janiczek responded by driving directly at the officer, attempting to hit him. The officer fired his weapon at the vehicle, but was unsuccessful in stopping Janiczek.
Janiczek is then said to have continued accelerating his vehicle and hit the officer. As the injured officer attempted to apply a tourniquet to a leg wound, the report states that Janiczek returned to where the officer was in the parking lot and struck the officer three additional times as he lay injured on the ground.
Janiczek then fled, prompting a brief pursuit by Plymouth Township officers. The pursuit ended when Janiczek struck a stopped Plymouth Patrol vehicle head-on, injuring a second officer.
Both officers were transported to the hospital, with the first officer being taken by helicopter. The first officer underwent emergency surgery, and both are in stable condition.
Janiczek was taken into custody with a wound to the head and treated at Abington Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital and transported to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
All officer-involved shootings are investigated by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, which responded to the scene.
Since June, Janiczek has been stopped and cited by police in Whitpain, Lower Gwynedd, Springfield, and Radnor townships. In the two days prior to his arrest, he was stopped in Whitpain on October 22nd, followed by Radnor on October 23rd. Citations have included careless driving, speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle, and driving without a license.
Janiczek has been charged with multiple felonies, including Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Assault, Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Police Officer, and related charges. He was arraigned on Oct. 25th, before Magisterial District Judge Thomas P. Murt, who denied bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 4th at 10:15 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Jodi L. Griffis.
Photo: Montgomery County District Attorney