Apopka mayor receives online threats after debate; suspect jailed without bond: Police

Apopka mayor receives online threats after debate

A heated debate in Apopka took a darker turn after police said a man sent violent online threats against Mayor Bryan Nelson.

APOPKA, Fla. - A heated debate in Apopka took a darker turn after police said a man sent violent online threats against Mayor Bryan Nelson.

The threats were not sent directly to Nelson, police said, but to another person via private Facebook messages. That person then took the messages to police, prompting an investigation into the mayor’s safety.

The backstory:

Nelson said he missed a call from the police chief while at the debate Monday night and later returned home to find officers at his door. "He informed me that I had a credible threat against my life," Nelson said.

Investigators say the threats were allegedly made by Hector Cartagena. In one private message, police say Cartagena called the mayor a "child rapist" and wrote, "he will feel the warmth of my steel blade as I aerate his esophagus."

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Nelson said the threats went beyond him and also targeted his family. 

"I went to tell my mother, my 96-year-old mother, that it was coming down," he said. "There is things in there about her and my dad, who has passed away."

Nelson called the situation "more than unfortunate" and "a shame that this is where social media has taken us."

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Police also allege Cartagena stalked and threatened another man he has known since childhood and made threats against a church, which led the church to hire an off-duty officer for security during services.

Cartagena made his first court appearance and is being held without bond at the Orange County Jail.