MESA, AZ — A Mesa man is accused of threatening staff at a juvenile group home and instructing his son to get a knife and kill a staff member.
George Kermit Berckman, 39, was arrested on Aug. 10, 2026, after Mesa police responded to a group home near Country Club Drive and 6th Avenue. A staff member reported receiving threatening text messages from Berckman, the father of one of the juveniles living at the facility.
Court documents show the texts included racial and homophobic slurs and threatened retaliation against staff. According to the probable cause statement, one message stated Berckman was “coming for” a staff member who had previously called police on his son…