Lawyer’s Son Grins After Running Over Cops in $150K Mercedes G-Wagon

Authorities say a 21-year-old Pennsylvania man — the son of a prominent attorney — tried to kill two police officers with his luxury Mercedes SUV, then smiled for the camera after his arrest.

Dalton Janiczek, a student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and son of defense lawyer Lee Janiczek, was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, and fleeing police. He’s being held without bail in Montgomery County Jail.

The violent encounter began around midnight on October 24, when officers in Plymouth Township tried to stop Janiczek’s white Mercedes G-Wagon for speeding and reckless driving. According to police, the college student took off instead, jumping a median and weaving through traffic before ditching the vehicle near a DoubleTree hotel parking lot.

“When the officers located the car, they expected a surrender,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a Sunday briefing. “Instead, they were met with what can only be described as a deliberate attempt to kill police.”

Investigators say Janiczek rammed his SUV into a patrol car and then accelerated directly toward an officer who was standing outside his vehicle. The officer fired at least once but was struck and thrown to the ground. As the wounded officer tried to stop the bleeding from his leg, police say the driver circled back and hit him again — three times.

Another officer, who raced in to help, was also injured when Janiczek’s vehicle smashed head-on into his cruiser.

Both officers were hospitalized. The first underwent emergency surgery and remains in stable condition. “He’s lucky to be alive,” one law enforcement source told local reporters. “The intent here was crystal clear — this wasn’t panic, it was predatory.”

After a brief chase, Janiczek was captured nearby and taken into custody. His mugshot — where he appears bleary-eyed but grinning — has since gone viral.

Neighbors in Ambler, where Janiczek lives in a $1.4 million home with his parents, described him as “polite but reckless.” One resident told The Philadelphia Inquirer: “You’d see that white G-Wagon flying down the street like it was a racetrack. Everyone knew who it belonged to.”

Court records show the student-athlete — who once captained La Salle College High School’s crew team and rows for Loyola Marymount — has faced 11 criminal traffic charges since 2023, including nine reckless driving offenses filed this year alone. In one case, he reportedly fled from police during a traffic stop in June and received probation.

His father, Lee Janiczek, a partner at the powerhouse firm Lewis Brisbois LLP, declined to comment when contacted. The firm, which represents corporate and insurance clients nationwide, also has not issued a statement.

Janiczek appeared before Magisterial District Judge Thomas P. Murt on Saturday and was denied bail due to what prosecutors called “an escalating pattern of dangerous behavior.” His preliminary hearing is set for November 4.

“This wasn’t just bad judgment,” DA Steele said. “It was an attempted killing of two police officers by someone who thought his last name and his money could get him out of anything.”