Lynn man claiming to be Jesus sent for psychiatric evaluation following arrest

LYNN – A judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a city man police say proclaimed was Jesus after stabbing several cars.”She told me (the defendant) had a knife in one hand and an American flag in the other,” Lynn Police Officer John Harkness wrote in a report. “When he saw her looking at him through the window he yelled to her, ?call the police.'”Francis Leonard, 26, of 31 Briar Hill Drive, was arrested and charged with violation of a city knife ordinance; and malicious destruction of property, 11 counts; last Saturday.Leonard was arraigned Monday in lockup but refused to speak with an attorney, according to court documents.Officers reported to Briar Hill Drive at 7:30 a.m. Saturday on a call of a shoeless, bearded man carrying a knife, according to court documents.Police said they recognized Leonard at the scene and ordered him to the ground, immediately cuffing him and recovering a knife.A resident told police she heard a man speaking incoherently in her backyard and looked out the window to find Leonard walking back and forth and holding a large knife, according to police. The witness allegedly yelled that she was calling the police and Leonard allegedly left the yard and began stabbing and scratching at two cars parked in the driveway.Another witness told officers he saw Leonard kneeling between his car and another car, and confronted Leonard.”When he asked Leonard what he was doing, Leonard replied, ?I’m Jesus,'” Harkness reported. “(The witness) asked Leonard if he was going to stab him and Leonard told him no.”The witness reported Leonard threw the knife to the curb once he saw a responding police cruiser, according to police.Judge James LaMothe ordered Leonard sent for a psychiatric evaluation and granted the Commonwealth’s request to argue bail before Leonard is released, according to court documents.Leonard is scheduled to return to court Dec. 6 for a competency hearing, according to court documents.