Ex-Deputy Accused of Terrorist Threats : Courts: James Drummond Collet, 30, told sheriff’s officials that a briefcase he was carrying contained a bomb, which it didn’t. He faces felony charges.

A former sheriff’s deputy described as mentally unstable was ordered Thursday to stand trial on felony charges of making terrorist threats after telling a deputy at a local courthouse that his briefcase contained a bomb.

Judge Floyd Baxter ordered James Drummond Collet, 30, held in lieu of $1 million bail after a preliminary hearing of the evidence against him.

Collet, a sheriff’s deputy from 1986 to 1993, when he retired for “stress-related” reasons, was a defendant in an April 26 misdemeanor trespassing case.

Deputy Greg LaVal of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station said he and several other deputies were stationed at Newhall Municipal Court for security reasons, since Collet had been disruptive during previous court hearings. LaVal said Collet was taken to a nearby interview room, where deputies tried to open a briefcase he was carrying.

“He told us there was a pound of C-4 (explosive) in there and it would explode if we opened it the wrong way,” LaVal said.

Deputies took the briefcase to the parking lot, where they determined it did not contain explosives, LaVal testified.

After they arrested him, Collet threatened LaVal, the deputy said. “He used a low, quiet tone and told me I was going to pay for what I had done, meaning what I had done with my elbow and forearm” to restrain him, LaVal said. “He told me repeatedly he was going to kill me.”

Dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized at his Canyon Country house the day he was arrested.

Collet’s attorney and family members said he has been unfairly singled out by deputies, who view him as a troublemaker.

“He was belligerent and they were going to show him who’s boss,” said defense attorney James Lochead, who contends the bomb threat was made in a joking manner.

During cross-examination, Lochead asked LaVal if Collet appeared to make his comments in a joking manner, and if it was standard department policy to carry potential explosive devices out of a building without waiting for bomb experts to arrive.

“It was our opinion at that time the briefcase could be safely moved as long as it was not opened,” LaVal said. He said he took Collet’s comments seriously.

Collet was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital after he claimed he was physically abused by deputies, LaVal said. He said Collet was screaming and trying to injure himself as he lay on a hospital stretcher, and threatened LaVal when the deputy used his arm to restrain Collet.

Lochead said after the hearing that the law requires an “immediate prospect” of the threat being carried out, which could not have happened at the hospital since Collet was bound and surrounded by numerous deputies.

Collet faces three years and eight months in state prison if convicted.

Federal officials have not yet decided if weapons charges will be filed against Collet as a result of the seizures of ammunition and guns, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Damon.