Boca-area man jailed after approaching home with rifle
Kevin Flaherty to get evaluation of his mental health before bail is set.
BOCA RATON — A suburban Boca Raton man will receive a mental-health evaluation after he walked up to a house in his neighborhood carrying an assault rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office on Thursday arrested Kevin Flaherty, 49, after receiving calls about the incident late Wednesday. He is facing three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.
Circuit Judge Ted S. Booras on Friday declined to set bail for Flaherty. Court records show do not show any prior arrests in Palm Beach County.
Bail will be considered after Flaherty receives his mental-health evaluation.
According to an arrest report made public Friday, a resident of the Pheasant Walk neighborhood called the sheriff ’s office just before 11 p.m. Wednesday to report seeing Flaherty outside a home in the community, off Military Trail north of Clint Moore Road.
Flaherty was carrying the rifle, the caller said. A video surveillance camera in the neighborhood also captured footage of Flaherty walking and holding the firearm while he rings a neighbor’s doorbell.
The female resident hid inside a bathroom with her two children while Flaherty stood outside her front door, the report said. The woman called 911 but could only be heard by a dispatcher “screaming and crying” before the phone went dead, the
report said.
The incident followed a visit by deputies to Flaherty’s home Sunday after he was accused of threatening his wife and daughter with a firearm, an area resident said. The case was documented by PBSO, but no arrest was made.
At Friday’s bail hearing, Booras also ordered Flaherty to stay at least 200 feet away from the home, to have no contact with its residents, and not to possess weapons.
Flaherty appeared to be under the influence of alcohol when taken into custody at a nearby business, deputies noted in their report.