Former CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist Pat O’Brien has been sentenced in connection with his 2018 arrest for burglary and assaulting a police officer.
On March 16, O’Brien was sentenced to time served and five years of probation and ordered to pay $23,793.45 in restitution. He was also ordered to get drug and alcohol evaluations and render 150 hours of community service. In addition, O’Brien was ordered to abstain from using alcohol and controlled substances and to be subject to random testing.
In the incident, O’Brien allegedly broke into a Northdale, Florida home and shouted that “the rapture is coming” before pushing a woman to the ground. He also charged at a responding officer with a knife before being subdued with a stun gun.
The owner of the home where O’Brien was arrested told ABC Action News that he thought the guitarist was hallucinating when he spoke to him and claimed “someone was after him.” The homeowner added O’Brien seemed scared and even hid in the closet.
Not far from where the incident occurred, a massive fire had broken out at the house that O’Brien was renting.
Fire marshals on the scene found weapons, locked safes and potential explosive devices inside the house, including 50 shotguns, 20 semiautomatic rifles, two Uzi-style firearms, 20 handguns and two flamethrowers.
O’Brien was released from Hillsborough County jail on December 14, 2018 after posting a $50,000 surety bond. Several days earlier, at a hearing, a judge told the 55-year-old musician, clad in an anti-suicide vest with his hands and ankles chained together, that he would first have to pass a drug test before he would be allowed to post bail and leave jail.
Earlier this year, it was announced that O’Brien had been replaced in CANNIBAL CORPSE by guitarist Erik Rutan (MORBID ANGEL, HATE ETERNAL).
CANNIBAL CORPSE released their 15th studio album, “Violence Unimagined”, on April 16 via Metal Blade Records.