CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- Lee County deputies arrested William Seyfried early Tuesday morning. They say they were forced to use a pit maneuver on his car after he drove off from his home.
This lead to quite a big scene at two locations.
Seyfried left his home on Northwest 15th Terrace overnight, and deputies were able to track his Jeep and stop him in the area of Tropicana Parkway and Northwest 3rd Street.
But most of Tuesday's activity focused on his home. Sheriff Carmine Marceno says authorities learned about the threats toward the judges Monday, and quickly took action to keep the community safe.
"We immediately deployed resources, and those resources being undercover detectives from our intelligence units, Major Crimes Units, and all of the above. Every threat is taken seriously,” said Sheriff Marceno.
The sheriff went on to say their investigation lead them to the house on NW 15th Terrace, where the suspect attempted to get away. “That male later on armed himself and attempted to flee the residence, which engaged him in a chase with our deputies. Our deputies utilized a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle and take that subject into custody.”
A bomb squad was sent into the home following the arrest, where they found several "suspicious" items.
Fox 4 did some more digging on Seyfried's social media page, where he posted what looked a device with wires and a large battery along with the caption on the post that read: "If the judges can hurt our innocent children and the law does not hold them accountable then we can hurt them and there family an eye 4 an eye! let the war begin."
Then he takes to social media again around 1:20 AM, Monday, and starts a three hour Facebook live video. This time he’s talking about the justice system and how he says he proved he did not have mental issues.
Fox 4 spoke with several neighbors in the area; most say they didn't know much about Seyfried, but one neighbor, Wayne Cave, said he saw something like this coming. "I’m not surprised this happened, when I see this, I go...it has to be him and there it is, it’s his house," Cave said.
Cave says there came a time when the Seyfried was happy, but Cave says once his wife and daughter were no longer in the picture it went downhill for him.
"Just seeing him, he had to do something and figured this. I didn’t think this but, I was kinda concerned I was a little bit," Cave said.
(Previous updates below)
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UPDATE (2:50PM) -- The Lee County Sheriff's Office has identified the man arrested Tuesday morning for threatening judges online.
43-year-old William Seyfried is facing charges of Aggravated Assault on an Officer, Threatening to Discharge a Destructive Device, Make or Attempting to make a Destructive Device, Fleeing and Eluding Law Enforcement and Threaten with Death or Serious Bodily Harm.
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UPDATE (1:30 PM) -- Fox 4 has located videos on social media showing the suspect complaining about "corrupt" judges, including one that shows a device that appears to be a bomb. His last video shows him driving his Jeep on the streets of Cape Coral while officers follow him. The suspect appears to be telling 911 that he's done nothing wrong and the the officers "are trying to kill me."
It ends after his vehicle is PIT maneuvered and he gets out while surrounded by authorities.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office has still not officially identified the man arrested in this case.
A representative of the 20th Judicial Circuit issued the following statement Tuesday: "The Court appreciates the vigilant law enforcement actions taken by LCSO related to this event."
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UPDATE (10:10 AM) -- The Lee County Sheriff's Office says they've arrested a man for making social media threats to Lee County judges.
Still a heavy police presence on NW 15 Terrace in Cape Coral. A Cape Coral man was arrested for making threats to judges; bomb squad investigating his home right now. @Fox4Now pic.twitter.com/Jd2JqExAF5
— Terrace Myles (@MrMyles_910) April 30, 2019
Sheriff Carmine Marceno says that they received complaints Monday night of a man using Facetime and Facebook Live to stream threats. Investigators were led to his home, where the suspect attempted to flee. His vehicle was eventually stopped via PIT maneuver on Tropicana Parkway and taken into custody.
The suspect was reportedly armed at the time.
The bomb squad remains at the suspect's home and continue to investigate the scene, where "suspicious items" have been found inside the house.
More details to come.
MORE: PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE
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UPDATE (9AM) -- A 2nd scene has developed along NW 15th Terrace near 11th Court. A bomb squad is at the scene and have approached a home.
Units from the Lee County Sheriff's Office, Collier County Sheriff's Office and Cape Coral Police are on scene.
We expect an update from the Lee County Sheriff's Office soon.
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CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- The Lee County Sheriff's Office says they have shut down Tropicana Parkway in between Northwest 3rd Place and Northwest 5th Avenue.
The Fox 4 Breaking News Tracker was at the scene early Tuesday morning.
Crime scene tape can be seen blocking off a large area. We also saw a Jeep with a busted out window investigators had surrounded.
We'll make sure to let you know what's going on when more details become available.
