Man found competent for trial on sex charges
A Ferndale man accused of sexually assaulting a girl was found competent to stand trial Thursday.
Police have released few details about the charges to protect the girl’s identity.
Garo Boyajian, 47, has been in the Oakland County Jail on $500,000 cash bond since his arraignment in December. He was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in January.
Ferndale 43rd District Judge Joseph Longo ruled the suspect was competent for trial after reviewing the psychiatric report.
Longo reduced the suspect’s bond to $50,000, 10 percent, after hearing from his defense attorney, Shannon Smith.
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Jack McIntyre argued against the bond reduction, indicating Boyajian was a danger to the community based on a standoff he had with police in Royal Oak on Dec. 12, two days before he was arraigned on sex assault charges.
Ferndale police went to a house in Royal Oak to check on the suspect because he had a handgun, and they thought he might be suicidal.
Boyajian had a handgun and hid in the basement in an area beneath the stairs, police said, as he threatened to kill himself.
Ferndale and Royal Oak officers were at the house and called in an Oakland County Sheriff’s SWAT team.
Boyajian wouldn’t give up his gun or surrender, police said.
A SWAT robot was finally sent in and found that Boyajian was passed out. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital and it was determined he had overdosed on drugs, police said.
“He had a gun and was threatening to kill everybody,” McIntyre said in court Thursday when he opposed the suspect’s bond reduction.
Boyajian faces no charges related to the Royal Oak police standoff.
Smith said that Boyajian has no prior criminal history.
“He is no longer suffering the symptoms he had at the beginning of the case, such as suicide attempts,” Smith said.
Conditions of the suspect’s bond require him to remain at home on a GPS tether, except for legal or medical appointments.
He is prohibited from having any contact with children under
the age of 15 and will be supervised by the Ferndale court’s pretrial services department. Boyajian is scheduled to appear in Ferndale court for a hearing at 2 p.m. May 3 to determine whether he will be ordered to stand trial in Oakland County Circuit Court. Each of the two charges against him is punishable by up to life in prison.