Wichita man’s deadly run-in with a sheriff’s deputy started with a missed court date

David Bosiljevac didn’t show up for court earlier this month. That’s why Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies were looking for him Monday, documents show.

Less than a minute after they found him at a storage unit in south Wichita, he was dead — shot to death by a deputy after he pointed an airsoft gun that looked like a pistol, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Col. Greg Pollock said on Monday.

Bosiljevac, a 55-year-old former senior project manager for a local engineering firm, was on probation for possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia from a case in Sedgwick County. A pair of alleged probation violations had landed him back on law enforcement’s radar.

On Nov. 3, Bosiljevac was arrested in Halstead on suspicion of two counts of domestic battery. On New Year’s Eve, he submitted a urine sample that tested positive for meth. After a series of continuances, Bosiljevac was scheduled to appear in court Jan. 16 to see if he would stay on probation or serve the rest of his sentence in prison.

But that date didn’t work for Bosiljevac or his attorney, Jess Hoeme.

According to a Jan. 15 motion filed by Hoeme, Bosiljevac had a hearing in Halstead related to the domestic battery charges the day he was expected to be in Sedgwick County District Court, and it was “not likely” he could be back in time for his probation hearing.

Hoeme would not be able to make the court date because he had two separate hearings already scheduled in McPherson County District Court that day, Hoeme said in the motion.

The prosecutor in the case, Mandee Schauf, agreed to continue the court date to a later time — as long as Bosiljevac showed up in court on that date.

But Bosiljevac didn’t make either of his scheduled court appearances that day, according to records from Halstead and Sedgwick County. His Halstead case was dismissed that day, and Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown issued a warrant for his arrest.

When deputies found Bosiljevac on Monday, based on a tip, he was standing behind a maroon Ford Fusion parked in front of a storage unit at 3360 S. Hydraulic, near I-135. A deputy got out of the car, and Bosiljevac ran to the driver’s side of the car. The deputy told him to stop, officials say.

Bosiljevac grabbed an airsoft pistol and pointed it at the deputy, who fired several shots at him, the Sheriff’s Office said. Bosiljevac was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court records and online profiles give a glimpse into Bosiljevac’s mixed past.

In 2006 and 2007 he got in trouble for several crimes in Albuquerque and Bernalillo, New Mexico. During that time he was convicted of battery, abandonment or abuse of a child, two separate cases of aggravated stalking, trafficking meth, violation of a protection order, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

At some point, Bosiljevac ended up in Wichita, where he had a good job. According to his LinkedIn profile, he started work as a project manager at GSI Engineering LLC in 2010. A representative with GSI said Bosiljevac had not worked there for a couple of years, but declined to comment further.

In 2015, Bosiljevac was arrested in Wichita with Abran Banuelos, who is serving a prison sentence under minimum security supervision at Larned State Mental Hospital.

In court documents filed in that case, the two men are listed as a co-defendants in a meth trafficking case. Police said they had more than 3.25 pounds of meth, a scale and packaging materials. Banuelos eventually pleaded guilty to possession of meth with intent to distribute, and Bosiljevac pleaded guilty to possession of meth.

Bosiljevac is the second person killed by law enforcement officers this month during a warrant pick-up in Wichita. Police shot and killed Geoffrey Morris on Jan. 15. Both men were attempting to evade officers and made officers fearful for their lives, officials say.

The deputies who were there to arrest Bosiljevac are part of a unit that does not wear body cameras, a sheriff’s official said, so footage of the shooting is unavailable. The sheriff’s office released a photograph of an airsoft gun submitted into evidence that looks like a black handgun.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is assisting with an investigation of the killing, and a case will be presented to the district attorney’s office. There will also be an internal investigation, officials said.

This story was originally published January 29, 2019 at 10:53 AM.