A warrant has been issued for State Rep. Kevin Boyle’s arrest

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of State Rep. Kevin Boyle, Philadelphia police said Tuesday, after Boyle allegedly violated a protection from abuse order.

Boyle, 44, a Democrat seeking an eighth term in next week’s primary election, was expected to be charged with violation of a PFA by communication, said Sgt. Eric Gripp, a police department spokesperson. No additional information was available as of early Wednesday morning.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), Kevin Boyle’s older brother, attributed the forthcoming arrest to a mental health condition that has been “a nightmare for me and our family.”

“Kevin’s family, close friends, and several colleagues have done everything possible to get him to enter into treatment, but we have been frustrated by a system that gives little power to the loved ones of an adult with a serious mental health condition,” Brendan Boyle said.

Kevin Boyle, who represents part of Northeast Philadelphia, has been open about his struggles with his mental health in recent years. In 2021, he was arrested for harassment and violating a protection from abuse order filed by his then-wife, which was later expunged. His brother said in his statement that he “made a full recovery” with medical treatment and proper medication. Kevin Boyle said in a 2022 letter to constituents that he was having a psychotic episode at the time of his arrest and that his life was saved after subsequent treatment at a mental health facility.

“For the following two years he was completely healthy and exhibited no symptoms whatsoever,” Brendan Boyle said of his brother. “He was thriving at work, won reelection overwhelmingly, and rose to become the chairman of an important state legislative committee. We genuinely believed his mental health issue was in the past.”

But Kevin Boyle’s symptoms resumed several months ago, his brother said, and in recent weeks his mental health deteriorated even further as he continued to resist treatment.

“It’s been painful to watch an intelligent, accomplished person with a big heart decline in such a precipitous way,” Brendan Boyle added.

The Boyle brothers made themselves into a political powerhouse over the last decade, in part, by retelling their life story: Their father immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland and worked as a SEPTA janitor and their mother worked as a school crossing guard. They both stepped into politics at a young age, unafraid to go up against the party establishment.

Kevin Boyle is on the ballot again next week — without the support of the Democratic Party. And his family said they are focused on Kevin Boyle receiving the medical treatment he needs “to make a full recovery like he previously did.”

“Our hearts are with Kevin, as well as all families who are suffering because a loved one is afflicted with a mental health illness,” Brendan Boyle added.

House Democrats poured $72,000 into the campaign of Boyle’s challenger, Sean Dougherty, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.

A video circulated of Kevin Boyle having an outburst in February at Gaul & Co. Malt House in Rockledge, a few days before the deadline to file paperwork to appear on the primary ballot. House Democratic leaders said at the time that their colleague was seeking help. Democrats scrambled to recruit Dougherty to run in his place, but Boyle still submitted his petitions and will appear on the ballot. The House Democratic Campaign Committee and top Democratic leaders are supporting Dougherty over Boyle in next week’s primary.

Boyle’s security access to the state Capitol was revoked after that February incident, and he was stripped of his role as committee chair.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), who is close friends with Boyle, said in an interview last week he “wholeheartedly supports” Dougherty’s campaign and that he had concerns for Boyle’s mental health.

“I love Kevin Boyle, and I want him to get the help he needs,” Bradford added, tearing up. “They’re not mutually exclusive. It breaks my heart to see him this way.” He made similar comments on Tuesday as news broke Tuesday of an arrest warrant out for Kevin Boyle’s arrest.

In his 2022 letter to constituents, Kevin Boyle described the mental health crisis he’d faced a year earlier.

“Family and friends could tell that I was starting to act differently, that my mental health was in decline,” he wrote. “But I couldn’t see it myself. I lost touch with reality and suffered from paranoid delusions.”

“I am very, very lucky,” Kevin Boyle added in the letter. “I now understand, in a personal way, that a mental health problem can develop in any person.”