BSO: Man Makes "Shoot To Kill" Threat To Judge, Lawyer
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- Facing a judge after his arrest, William Bresch was a picture of calm.
The 47-year-old was nothing like the picture painted by detectives that said he made loud, obscene and harassing phone calls to Broward County Judge Ellen Feld, her judicial assistant and a lawyer who represented a landlord against Bresch.
Broward Sheriff's Office Det. Joe Kessling says last week the judge's assistant got a disturbing phone call.
"She said she had just received a call from Mr. Bresch calling her a pedophile, calling the judge a pedophile, and pretty much, he was extremely angered," said Det. Kessling. "You could tell there was violence in his voice."
The anger goes back to the summer when detectives say Bresch lost a court case Judge Feld presided over and he was evicted from his rented Ft. Lauderdale home.
"He took it to the next level," said Det. Kessling. "Pretty much, he's talking about people are going to die. He has given orders to his family, anybody that comes to his house, they were going to shoot to kill."
Alarmed, Det. Kessling sent SWAT to Bresch's current Melbourne home. But then, he says, before that, Bresch called the Broward Clerk of Courts and went on a rant.
"He talks about the judge and he says the judge apparently wants to have a shooting rally and then he states, the problem with the judge, she wants to start a gun war, people are going to die," said Det. Kessling. "And he ends his conversation by stating this is no joke."
The public defender told the judge that Bresch was holding down a minimum wage job and asked for a reasonable bond.
But the judge said he had real concerns about everyone's safety.
Bresch is now being held on a $1.75 million bond on charges of corruption by threats against a public official and making obscene and harassing phone calls. Further charges may be pending.