DAYTON — A federal judge wants a doctor to evaluate a suspect before his case goes any further.
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He’s accused of threatening people with an illegal gun and explosives.
We first reported on the search warrant raid involving police, the bomb squad, and the FBI at his apartment in south Montgomery County last week.
The judge ordered this evaluation because he said he’s concerned about some statements the suspect has made and what it may indicate about his mental state and his ability.
On Tuesday, Tony Houston was in court for the second time since his arrest last week.
The judge was supposed to decide whether he would stay in jail or be let out before his trial.
Instead, the judge said a doctor has to examine Houston with a psychological evaluation.
The judge said he has concerns about Houston’s mental competency based on information in court filings he’s reviewed, including, the judge said, complaints from Houston that he’s been “experimented on” and “radiated by the military.”
Finally, the judge said he’s concerned about the gun and explosives investigators say they took from Houston’s apartment last week.
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“The bomb squad, a big truck, was out there, and I thought, ‘Man, this is some serious stuff,” Cheryl Dodson said.
Dodson called News Center 7 after watching the search warrant raid at her apartment complex.
“I’ve been here 14 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.
Houston has been federally charged with illegally possessing a firearm and destructive devices.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dayton says Houston was not registered to possess the short-barreled shotgun or the pipe bombs he had.
Federal charging documents show someone in Germantown told officers that when they did not return some stuff they’d borrowed from Houston, he threatened them after showing them pipe bombs and that sawed-off shotgun inside his apartment.
Then, investigators wrote two people told them while they were in a backyard at the complex they yelled at a dog that approached them to get away.
Right after that, investigators said Houston came up to them with “a sawed-off shotgun” ... “and expressed displeasure at them for chastising his dog.”
Houston is going to stay in custody at the Montgomery County Jail as they wait for that psych evaluation.
The doctor will have to give the judge a written report with his findings within 30 days.
Then there will be a hearing and a decision from the judge.
We will continue to follow this story.
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