Cops: Man with cyanide held for mental evaluation

A Swedish national remained under psychiatric evaluation Thursday after he walked into a Bronx police precinct last week with a vial of cyanide and falsely claimed someone was using it to kill him, officials said.

Jonathan Norling, 22, faces charges of possessing a noxious substance, as well as weapons possession from the incident that occurred on Feb. 14 at the 49th Precinct in the Pelham Parkway section, an NYPD spokesman said.

When he walked into the precinct, Norling initially claimed a business associate had tried to use the cyanide to harm him, a statement he later admitted was false, the spokesman said. Norling then said that he actually was going to use the poison to harm himself, according to police.

At the precinct, police took possession of the cyanide and, based on additional information, found a quantity of abrin, a natural poison found in the seeds of the rosary pea, in a safe inside Norling's apartment at 2187 Cruger Ave., the spokesman said. Police also said they found a handgun and a rifle inside a small U-Haul van Norling was listed as renting.

Norling was taken for evaluation to Bellevue Hospital Center after his arrest, where he remained Thursday, police said.