The father of a Lawrence man arrested and charged Friday with leaving a suitcase near a marked Department of Homeland Security vehicle and then fleeing the scene said his son is bipolar and has been in and out of jail for more than a dozen years.

James Derepentigny, 50, was charged with planting a hoax device, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department told Boston.com. He may also be charged with disturbing the peace, she said.

In a brief phone interview Friday evening, Robert Derepentigny said he had just arrived home from work and learned of his son’s arrest.


“I know why it happened,’’ he said. “It’s because he’s bipolar.’’

Robert Derepentigny said James has been incarcerated several times over the last 13 years, and blamed his son’s troubles on the closure of mental institutions.

He then said he wasn’t supposed to be talking to reporters and hung up the phone.

James Derepentigny —Boston Police Department

At 9:50 a.m. Friday, Boston Police responded to a report of a suspicious package near downtown. A floral suitcase was left next to the rear tire of the Homeland Security SUV parked near 408 Atlantic Avenue, Boston police said.

Police were told that a man placed the suitcase there, then left in a hurry.

Boston police detonated the suspicious suitcase, though Boston Police Commissioner William Evans stressed that there was no indication it was a bomb.

Evans said that nothing led them to believe there were explosives in the suitcase, but that police operated under a “better safe than sorry’’ mentality, according to The Boston Globe.

He also told the Associated Press that an X-ray of the suitcase showed wires and a ‘‘power source.’’

WCVB-TV posted a video clip on its Twitter page showing the package being detonated.

Atlantic Avenue, Seaport Boulevard, and ramps leading from I-93 were all closed as uniformed officers, a SWAT team, and bomb squad dealt with the package. All roads and ramps have since reopened.


A law enforcement official said Friday that Derepentigny has a long criminal history, but the specifics couldn’t be confirmed Friday evening.

In 2009, Derepentigny was sentenced to a year in jail after he admitted to waving a knife and threatening to “stab everyone in this place’’ at a Hampton Beach, New Hampshire bar the year prior, according to Seacoastonline.com.

Gallery: photos from the scene