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Tahoe City’s McKnight to undergo psychiatric evaluation

Kyle Magin
Sierra Sun

TAHOE CITY, Calif. and#8212; A Placer County judge on Monday ordered Tahoe City resident John McKnight, who faces nine criminal charges for allegedly threatening a local neighborhood in June, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

At a Monday pretrial hearing at Placer County Superior Court in Tahoe City, McKnightand#8217;s attorney, Placer County Public Defender Barry Jones, requested the evaluation, and Judge Trilla Bahrke ordered McKnight, 61, to see Auburn, Calif.-based psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Nelson.

McKnight remains in custody at Placer County Jail in Auburn on $106,316.25 bail, and Bahrke ordered him to return to court 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24, in Tahoe City, after the evaluation.



According to witness and law enforcement statements from the June 15 incident, McKnight allegedly waved a loaded handgun at residents in the Lake Forest neighborhood east of Tahoe City, posted an anti-Semitic sign reading and#8220;Kill all Jewsand#8221; and threatened to and#8220;kill everyone in Lake Forest.and#8221;

McKnightand#8217;s landlord, Robert Smith, questioned his mental stability after the incident, saying McKnight made at least two suicide threats when asked to pay rent.



In all, McKnight is charged with four felonies and five misdemeanors and#8212; two felony assault with a firearm charges, two felony criminal threats charges, one felony possession of a deadly weapon charge, two misdemeanor DUI-related charges, one misdemeanor concealed firearm in a vehicle charge and one misdemeanor carrying a loaded weapon charge.


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