A Sierra Vista man indicted on multiple burglary and weapons charges, after he was arrested for a domestic violence incident in August, has been set for a trial in January.
Robert Allen Makowski Jr. is charged with 14 counts, including disorderly conduct with a weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, drive-by shooting, endangerment, and theft or control of stolen property. The indictment also includes eight weapons misconduct charges stemming from Makowski’s status as a prohibited possessor.
Makowski, 56, has been ordered to appear in Cochise County Superior Court on Nov. 30 in advance of a Jan. 26, 2021 jury trial. He is being held without bail in the Cochise County jail after Judge Timothy Dickerson ruled “no combinations of conditions of release would reasonably ensure the safety of the victim and the community.”
Court records show Makowski had been a suspect in a few Sierra Vista area burglaries for nearly one year before he was arrested Aug. 23 for reportedly firing a gun outside a home where his former girlfriend was staying. The shot was likely directed at the homeowner who heard the sound, as did a neighbor, but no bullet was recovered.
Over several minutes, Makowski sent messages to the woman, including one which stated, “You have put everybody in that spot in danger how do you feel about that.” Another message claimed Makowski was headed to the home of the woman’s mother.
Makowski was located driving in the area a short time later and taken into custody by a Cochise County sheriff’s deputy following a brief vehicle pursuit. A single 9mm expended cartridge casing was found in the truck, according to a report by Sierra Vista Det. Thomas Ransford.
After Makowski was taken into custody it was discovered he had bragged about boobytrapping his property with a tripwire. Ransford also learned Makowski had recorded a video in which he stated he was “fully equipped with multiple .50 caliber” and that “whatever happens, happens.”
As a result, a search of his property was delayed until the next day so that the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit could provide a robotics device. Sierra Vista’s tactical unit was also supported by an aerial drone and a smaller mobile device that entered some of the structures on the property.
Detectives located eight firearms, which Makowski is prohibited from possessing as a convicted felon without restoration of his civil rights. One of the weapons was a revolver reported stolen in Tacoma, Washington in 1991.
Since living in Cochise County, Makowski has had several contacts with local authorities, including a 2019 citation for no current registration and a separate open liquor container citation. He pleaded guilty to both and paid fines.
Then in January he was charged with disorderly conduct stemming from an incident with his then-girlfriend. A judge approved a six-month diversion program which Makowski completed this summer. The charge has now been dismissed with prejudice, meaning Makowski cannot be prosecuted in connection to the incident.
It’s unclear whether the judge or the Cochise County Attorney’s Office were aware at the time that Makowski was considered a suspect in two SVPD burglaries in Fall 2019.
Court records show on Sept. 5, 2019 someone stole a large swamp cooler valued at $2,000 out of the revival tent at Cochise Memory Gardens on Charleston Road. Surveillance video captured a white, single cab pickup circling the tent before two people get out of the truck and go inside the tent.
They are then seen dragging one of two identical swamp coolers out of the tent and load it onto a metal trailer before driving away to the east. The entire theft took three minutes.
Officer Jessica Ferrel’s report notes the truck had dark colored decals on the driver’s and passenger’s doors. She suggested that the cemetery operator install a better surveillance system, which came in handy when another burglary occurred there a few weeks later.
On Oct. 11, 2019, the surveillance system not only captured sharper video of two white males and a dark colored SUV, but also decals on the vehicle for American Gardeners Landscaping. The system also recorded the men -one apparently named Robert- talking about a generator, although they left with only a fire extinguisher and a tarp.
Makowski is the owner of American Gardeners Landscaping, which helped set up the revival tent for Paster John Arnoldbik. And Makowski was the registered owner of a white 1998 pickup.
However, Ferrel’s report noted she did not have probable cause directly connecting Makowski to the theft of the $2,000 swamp cooler and Officer Stephen Braswell did not have enough to move forward with an arrest for the October incident.
Public records show Makowski was not questioned about either burglaries until February 2020. He admitted knowing about the swamp cooler being stolen but said he knew nothing it. He also told detectives the white truck was used by his son.
He also told detectives that he was at the revival tent on Oct. 11 at the instruction of Pastor Arnoldbik, who denied Makowski’s claim. The stolen swamp cooler was located on Makowski’s property during the Aug. 24 search, as was the white pickup seen in the surveillance video.
The Aug. 24 search also cleared some burglaries reported in unincorporated areas of Cochise County, including the recovery of a riding lawnmower stolen May 30. A Big Tex dual axle trailer reported stolen June 2 was also recovered.
On Aug. 27, SVPD and CCSO personnel returned to Makowski’s property with a second search warrant. This time they recovered a water tank stolen from TAV Concrete.
Makowski’s criminal history includes a 1995 racially-motivated attack on a Hispanic man at a public playground in front of the man’s young daughter. The federal conviction yielded Makowski one year in prison. He completed his post-sentence probation in November 1998.
