Man Charged With Pulling Fire Alarm, Threatening Attack, Saying He Wants To See People “Suffer.”
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The adult son of a Palm Beach County School Board member is facing multiple charges after he was found naked at Florida Atlantic University. FAU Police arrested Stephen Barbieri. Unclothed, Barbieri allegedly admitted to pulling a fire alarm and claiming that a pending “chemical” attack is the “calm before the storm.” He also allegedly told police that he wants to see people “suffer.” The following is the arrest report written by FAU Police and obtained by BocaNewsNow.com.
>>On 2/18/2025, I was dispatched to the Culture and Society building (Bldg. 97) in reference to an unknown male nakedly walking around the area. Upon my arrival in the area, I checked Building 52 — the Visual Arts Building — where I was unable to locate any individual matching the description. Officer Larabee advised over the radio that the fire alarm of Building 97 was activated, and people were currently evacuating the building. While evacuating the building, Officer Larabee made contact with the individual matching the description walking into the west exterior door. Officer Larabee advised that he had the individual detained on the first floor of the Culture and Society building. Upon my arrival at Officer Larabee’s location of the detained individual, I observed a white male with no shirt on and dark pants lying with his chest on the ground and his hands behind his back.
The individual was placed in department-issued hinged handcuffs behind his back. The handcuffs were double-locked and checked for fitting and tightness. I conducted a pat-down search of the unknown male’s person, which revealed the following: three silver-in-color chains, a guitar pick, and black aviator sunglasses. The unknown white male identified himself as Steven James Barbieri. Due to the reasonable suspicion of the fire alarm activation to the detained individual, I read him his Miranda Warning Rights from a Miranda Card. During my preliminary Miranda conversation, I asked him if he pulled the fire alarm pull station, and he stated, “I did”.
When asked why he pulled the fire alarm, he stated that “he wanted to”. He further stated that he was going to use a chemical weapon from his portable phone charger to burn the building down and if the building was going to burn down, he was going to watch people “suffer”.
He made references to the building blowing up and that this incident is the “calm before the storm.” Due to the above references of a chemical weapon and weapons of mass destruction to an occupied building, I find probable cause to charge Barbieri with violations (of the following statutes): Manufacture, possession, sale, delivery, display, use, or attempted or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction; False alarms of fires. The individual was transported and booked to the Palm Beach County Jail without further incident.<<
Stephen Barbieri is the son of longtime Board Member and former Board Chair Frank Barbieri, Jr. Frank Barbieri is a well-respected attorney. Stephen Barbieri has faced multiple charges over the the past several years and is now the subject of a “mental health hold” initiated by FAU Police. Stephen Barbieri lists a home on Shady Vista Lane in Boca Raton as his home address. He is 52 years old.
