David Capato, the Edgartown man who allegedly threatened police with a bomb hoax at the Steamship Authority terminal earlier this month, has been sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for mental health evaluation, his attorney told The Times.
Capato’s legal counsel, Edgartown-based lawyer Robb Moriarty, said on Wednesday that the decision to move his client came from the Dukes County Sheriff’s office.
Capato — who was turned down for a job application with the Chilmark Police Department about three years ago — was ordered held without bail last Thursday at his arraignment, pending a dangerousness hearing set for February 14. He was arraigned on charges including terrorist threats, witness intimidation, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Capato’s move to Bridgewater is enabled by Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 123, Section 18, which states that the person in charge of a detention facility can send a detained individual for examination at Bridgewater by a physician or psychologist.
Moriarty told The Times that mental health struggles were the cause of his client’s two-hour standoff with police on the night of January 15. The 56-year-old Capato has long suffered from mental illness, he said.
“It was the product of mental illness and not the product of a rational person. He’s mentally ill and has been for a long time,” Moriarty said of the standoff.
Capato called police to the Steamship Authority terminal on January 15, telling them that he had found a revolver, the police incident report states. Upon officers’ arrival, Capato produced the revolver and a two-hour standoff ensued in which he told police that he was prepared to set off explosives in his vehicle. After Capato’s peaceful surrender, however, officers reported finding a can of gasoline instead, along with a disassembled assault rifle and what appeared to be wood stove pellets. Capato was wearing a recording device on his collar, police also reported.
Tisbury police also reported that during the standoff with Capato, he claimed that he was an ex-NYPD officer with experience in explosive ordinance disposal. The NYPD confirmed to The Times on Thursday that Capato retired in 2011.
Capato’s history in law enforcement also led him to apply for a job at the Chilmark Police Department, Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin told The Times on Thursday.
Slavin said that Capato reached out to Chilmark police around 2022 looking to become an officer, and that he interviewed for the position. His experience was not an ideal fit for the job, however.
“He was an NYC police officer, and we were a small-town rural Martha’s Vineyard police department, so his skill set didn’t necessarily fit what we were looking for,” Slavin said.
At Capato’s arraignment last Thursday, Judge Joseph Hurley of Edgartown District Court ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing. The hearing is scheduled at the court on February 14 at 9 am.
