Armed Man Arrested in Court
A former mental patient carrying two loaded pistols was arrested this morning in a Pasadena Superior Court courtroom minutes before he was to appear before a judge on an arson charge.
Leslie Michael Swayne, 42, was arrested without resistance in Judge Coleman A. Swart’s courtroom after bailiffs took a pair of automatic pistols from his coat pockets, authorities said. Deputy Dist. Atty. Judson W. Morris said he notified the bailiffs that Swayne might be armed after members of Swayne’s family reported that he had made threats to kill the judge, his defense attorney and others. Swayne, an Altadena resident, was free on $10,000 bail after being released from Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County.
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