A California man accused of trying to make his way inside the Pentagon, opening fire and wounding two officers, had trouble with police in Orange County.
John Patrick Bedell, a 36-year-old man who officials said drew at least one gun and started firing Thursday evening, served time in Orange County Jail in 2006, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Bedell, a resident of Hollister, lived in Irvine during the time of the arrest, authorities said.
Bedell was arrested by Irvine police in 2006 on suspicion of cultivating marijuana and resisting arrest, Amormino said.
According to the Orange County Superior Court file on the case, Bedell suffered from bipolar disorder.
In February 2008, Bedell wrote to a judge in the case saying he had bipolar disorder and it led to a psychiatric hospitalization.
Also in the court file is a letter from a psychiatrist, Dr. J. Michael Nelson with San Benito County Behavioral Health. Nelson wrote that Bedell "struggles with a variant of bipolar illness. This is characterized by depression, anxiety, mood swings, and ideas of reference, among other symptoms."
Nelson wrote that Bedell was relatively symptom free while on medication. However, Bedell fell out of treatment between 2005 and 2007 and his anxiety and depression began to reappear, Nelson wrote. "His effort to deal with it included self-medication with marijuana," the letter said.
The marijuana charge, a felony, was dropped after Bedell completed a drug program. He was also charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest.
In a handwritten explanation, Bedell told the judge: ""I cultivated marijuana for my own use. When officers arrested me, I went limp and they had to carry me away, and I blocked access to my house, delaying their lawful investigation."
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