Psychiatric evaluation ordered for Washington man accused of transit threats
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An MTV reality television personality who prosecutors say threatened the Washington, D.C., mass transit system in calls to emergency responders, was ordered on Thursday to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey asked that Jerez Nehemiah Coleman, 20, of Washington have the evaluation done by staff at a prison where he has been held without bond since his arrest on May 27.
Prosecutors say Coleman, who last year starred on the MTV show "Catfish" which explores truth and deception in online dating, made 388 calls to emergency responders between June 10, 2014 and June 10, 2015.
He has pleaded not guilty to 11 felony counts for incidents from that time span. He faces 10 counts for falsely reporting an attack on mass transit and one count of interstate communication of a threat to kidnap or injure.
He is scheduled for a detention hearing on Friday.
(Reporting by John Clarke in Washington; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis)
