The man who allegedly lied his way into a woman’s apartment by posing as a firefighter, Peter Braunstein, underwent psychological examinations at Bellevue Hospital Center yesterday, according to the New York City Department of Corrections.

The examinations followed a period at Rikers Island, corrections officials said, where he was detained for several hours after his 12:30 a.m. arraignment.

Mr. Braunstein, 41, was charged with two counts of sexual abuse and one count each of kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and arson. Represented by two Legal Aid attorneys, Linda Lopez and Heather Smith, Mr. Braunstein was jailed without bail by Judge Ellen Coin.

Mr. Braunstein’s mother, Angele Braunstein, 75, who was unable to visit her son yesterday because of a cold and the transit strike, said the charges against Mr. Braunstein were “too much.” She further said, “I expect him to be in jail, but not for all the crimes they accused him of.”

A freelance writer, Mr. Braunstein allegedly dressed as a firefighter on Halloween as a ruse to get into a 34-year-old woman’s Chelsea apartment building. He set several small fires and made his way into his former colleague’s apartment where he “put a gun to informant’s head, did tie informant’s hands behind her back and did place a cloth over informant’s face containing a noxious substance,” according to the criminal com plaint against him. After allegedly sexually abusing the woman off-and-on for about 13 hours, the court document indicates he stole the woman’s Gucci fur coat, Louis Vuitton carry-on bag, driver’s license, resume, and cash.

After fleeing the woman’s apartment, Mr. Braunstein spent a month and a half on the run, with police searching in vain for him in New York and other states. The pursuit culminated in a dramatic finale with Mr. Braunstein allegedly plunging a knife into his neck several times as police arrested him on the University of Memphis campus.

“I think he bought a plastic gun to die by suicide by the cops,” Ms. Braunstein said. The criminal complaint says Mr. Braunstein was toting an “imitation” gun. Mr. Braunstein faced felony charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapons on a state campus. The charges were dismissed when Mr. Braunstein waived extradition to New York, where he arrived two nights ago.

Mr. Braunstein’s long-estranged father, Alberto Braunstein, 72, initially planned to retain a defense attorney for his son but changed his mind when his son refused to see him in a Tennessee jail following his arrest, Alberto Braunstein said. The father changed his mind again, and yesterday was trying to secure a reputable lawyer to take his son’s case. When asked by a reporter what prompted his sudden change of heart, he said, “I can’t afford to take [my son’s rejection] personally.” Mr. Braunstein’s next court date is Friday.