NPS lecturer charged with attempted murder of a police officer, placed on paid leave

San Benito County sheriff’s deputies were already investigating Mark Hladky for a domestic violence incident when he allegedly made an anonymous 911 call reporting a dead body in his Hollister home. Once police got a tip from a 911 dispatcher about the Jan. 24 call, they traced it back to his cell phone and sent an unmarked car to check it out.

Deputies never found a dead body. Instead, they found Hladky outside, behind a freshly constructed barricade of sheet metal, spare tires and pieces of telephone poles. He was wearing a helmet and fatigues, and had loaded magazines in his pockets. Hladky, who pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, is being held without bail. He did not fire weapons during the incident, but is also charged with one count of attempted murder on a citizen and assault with a firearm in the domestic violence matter.

The retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel is a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Defense Resources Management Institute (DRMI). Hladky has been placed on paid leave.

After Hladky’s arrest, NPS officials met with DRMI staff and provided a phone number for the Civilian Employee Assistance Program, says spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Bill Clinton. Counselors are available through a hotline “to assist with exposure to threats, acts of violence, natural disasters, injury, or death,” according to a program flyer. Otherwise, it remains business as usual at NPS, with no changes in protocol.

Hladky goes to court on Feb. 27. His attorney, Harry Damkar, did not return calls requesting comment.