A San Bruno man accused of intending to kill a doctor who performed an abortion on his girlfriend is expected to enter a plea March 5.

Joel Robison, 27, was arraigned Monday on a charge of attempted murder. He is alleged to have driven to a Planned Parenthood clinic on Palm Avenue in San Mateo on Feb. 17 with a loaded gun to confront the doctor who performed an abortion on his girlfriend, according to prosecutors.

Upon approaching the clinic, Robison spotted a security guard in front, changed his mind, returned home and gave the gun to his brother, prosecutors say.

He was arrested Saturday, however, after telling a psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in South San Francisco about the incident. The doctor called police.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“We’ve gotten a lot of questions about whether he was part of any group but this was just a case of a man and his girlfriend and he was the father,” Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. “We’ve requested more information from police about his background.”

Robison is being held without bail. The doctor was not hurt in the incident. Planned Parenthood had no comment and requested the identity of the targeted doctor remain anonymous.

bfoley@examiner.com