A bomb threat that shut down the West Palm Beach Police Department last year did not come from a disgruntled criminal or an anonymous caller across town.Investigators traced it to a locked mental health unit.Police say the caller was Luke Cahill, a patient at JFK Hospital who had been Baker Acted just one day earlier for psychotic behavior. Body camera video shows officers placing him in handcuffs inside the facility and walking him out of the unit where doctors had involuntarily committed him for psychiatric treatment.The threat, captured on audio, was blunt and urgent: “There’s a bomb in your parking lot. There’s a bomb in your parking lot.”The call triggered a major response, closed downtown roads for hours and pulled police resources into a search for a bomb that was never found.Cahill was arrested and charged with making a bomb threat to state property, a felony. More than a year later, the case is still pending.Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News’He was clearly insane’His attorney, John Cleary, says that should not be possible under Florida law if Cahill was legally insane at the time of the offense. Cleary provided WPBF 25 Investigates a psychologist’s report that reviewed Cahill’s medical records and described him as psychotic and delusional in the hours leading up to the call.“It is my opinion Mr. Cahill meets the criteria for insanity as set forth in the Florida statutes,” the psychologist wrote.Cleary says Cahill does not remember making the call and argues the prosecution reflects a bigger collision between criminal court and serious mental illness.“He was clearly insane at the time of the offense. And still he’s being prosecuted,” Cleary said.Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here. Waste of taxpayer money?Bomb threats are serious crimes that can drain public resources and put officers on high alert. Cleary says he is not disputing the impact of what happened, but contends that pursuing a felony prosecution in this case is a waste of taxpayer money because the legal outcome is predictable if a court agrees that Cahill met the insanity standard.WPBF 25 Investigates asked the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office why the case is still being pursued. A spokesman declined to comment.A trial date is set for March, but prosecutors did not provide details in response to questions.Next: Investigative Reporter Terri Parker sits down with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who says cases like this show why mentally ill offenders still must be charged, and why the jail has become one of the region’s largest providers of mental health care.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —
A bomb threat that shut down the West Palm Beach Police Department last year did not come from a disgruntled criminal or an anonymous caller across town.
Investigators traced it to a locked mental health unit.
Police say the caller was Luke Cahill, a patient at JFK Hospital who had been Baker Acted just one day earlier for psychotic behavior. Body camera video shows officers placing him in handcuffs inside the facility and walking him out of the unit where doctors had involuntarily committed him for psychiatric treatment.
The threat, captured on audio, was blunt and urgent: “There’s a bomb in your parking lot. There’s a bomb in your parking lot.”
The call triggered a major response, closed downtown roads for hours and pulled police resources into a search for a bomb that was never found.
Cahill was arrested and charged with making a bomb threat to state property, a felony. More than a year later, the case is still pending.
Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News
‘He was clearly insane’
His attorney, John Cleary, says that should not be possible under Florida law if Cahill was legally insane at the time of the offense. Cleary provided WPBF 25 Investigates a psychologist’s report that reviewed Cahill’s medical records and described him as psychotic and delusional in the hours leading up to the call.
“It is my opinion Mr. Cahill meets the criteria for insanity as set forth in the Florida statutes,” the psychologist wrote.
Cleary says Cahill does not remember making the call and argues the prosecution reflects a bigger collision between criminal court and serious mental illness.
“He was clearly insane at the time of the offense. And still he’s being prosecuted,” Cleary said.
Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
Waste of taxpayer money?
Bomb threats are serious crimes that can drain public resources and put officers on high alert. Cleary says he is not disputing the impact of what happened, but contends that pursuing a felony prosecution in this case is a waste of taxpayer money because the legal outcome is predictable if a court agrees that Cahill met the insanity standard.
WPBF 25 Investigates asked the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office why the case is still being pursued. A spokesman declined to comment.
A trial date is set for March, but prosecutors did not provide details in response to questions.
Next: Investigative Reporter Terri Parker sits down with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who says cases like this show why mentally ill offenders still must be charged, and why the jail has become one of the region’s largest providers of mental health care.