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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Criminal proceedings were suspended Thursday after a doubt was declared about the mental competency of an Orange County man who allegedly falsely claimed to have a bomb and scaled the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier.
Juan Gonzalez, 37, is set to appear Oct. 26 at the Hollywood courthouse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The Garden Grove resident was charged Wednesday with two felony counts of criminal threats and one felony count each of making a false report of a bomb threat, false imprisonment and resisting arrest.
Santa Monica police officers were dispatched about 2:40 p.m. Monday to the pier on a report of someone climbing the Ferris wheel while carrying a dark-colored backpack. A witness told police the man claimed to be carrying a bomb before he started scaling the lattice-work of the 130-foot-tall Ferris wheel, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The man climbed about two-thirds of the way up the wheel in the steel supports. Police said about 10 riders were on the Ferris wheel at the time, and fire crews used a bucket truck to evacuate them while negotiators tried to talk the man down. The Pacific Park amusement park and the pier were both closed to the public.
"Gonzalez was very agitated and upset and continued to make bomb threats to the officers negotiating with him," police said in a statement Tuesday. "The incident lasted for more than an hour before Gonzalez climbed down low enough for officers to take him into custody. Gonzalez was not in possession of an explosive device or any other weapons."
Gonzalez was taken into custody late Monday afternoon, and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.