Based on concerns about the defendant’s mental competency, a judge Friday ordered psychiatric examinations for a 41-year-old probationer accused of attacking his neighbor with a sword in Murrieta, then barricading himself in his residence until a SWAT unit forcibly took him into custody.
Michael John Keen was arrested last week following an hours-long Murrieta Police Department operation.
Keen is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, vandalism and probation violations.
He has been scheduled for arraignment on four separate occasions over the previous week, but the defense requested postponements each time, and on Friday morning, Keen’s public defender submitted a motion seeking a mental health determination.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Judith Clark agreed, referring the matter to the county Department of Behavioral Health, whose doctors are due to provide a progress report to the judge during a hearing at the Southwest Justice Center on Oct. 16.
The defendant is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to police, shortly after 11 a.m. Sept. 11, Keen and his neighbor, a man identified only as “R.G.,” living in the unit directly across from Keen in the Madison Park Condominiums on Madison Avenue, were involved in an unspecified dispute.
During the exchange, the defendant retrieved a sword and “swung it at his neighbor, striking him across the face and hand,” police Lt. Steve Whiddon said.
“Following the assault, the victim fled to a nearby residence to seek help, and the police were notified,” Whiddon said. “The suspect remained inside his home and barricaded the doors and windows.”
The victim was taken to a regional trauma center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, from which he is still recovering. Patrol officers attempted to make contact with Keen, establishing a perimeter around the building, according to the lieutenant.
He said due to the risks involved, the Southwest Cities SWAT Team, comprised of personnel from the Murrieta, Menifee and Hemet police departments, was summoned to take charge.
For more than three hours, attempts were made to negotiate Keen’s peaceful surrender, but he refused to exit the residence, Whiddon alleged.
“The team devised a plan and made entry into the suspect’s condo,” the lieutenant said. “Once inside, the suspect was taken into custody … No injuries to the suspect or officers were reported.”
Court records show Keen has prior convictions in Riverside County for making criminal threats and violating a restraining order. He additionally has separate convictions in another jurisdiction that weren’t listed.