The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 5, 2009

UPDATE: Jail, probation ordered for woman in police standoff

By Matt Snyder

WORTH TOWNSHIP — A Worth Township woman whose suicide threat triggered a four-hour standoff with police was sentenced to up to a year in jail on Thursday.

Debra R. Couch, 44, of 282 Jackson Center-Polk Road, was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge John C. Reed to serve six months to a year in jail and a year probation. She has already served 226 days in jail.

Ms. Couch pleaded guilty July 7 to reckless endangerment and had charges of aggravated assault dropped.

According to police, Ms. Couch called 911 shortly before 2:30 p.m. March 25 and said she had a loaded .357-caliber Magnum and was going to kill herself. She also told police she would shoot them if they came to her home.

Ms. Couch’s ex-husband, Daniel C. Coast Jr., was asleep in the home during the incident, police said.

Once police arrived, they tried to negotiate with Ms. Couch. A gunshot was heard at 2:55 p.m. and again at 3:05 p.m. Ms. Couch, who said in court documents she’d been drinking that day, reported hearing the gunshot but not remembering the details of how the weapon was fired. No one was hurt.

At 6:25 p.m., Ms. Couch surrendered peacefully to police, they said.

Ms. Couch’s defense attorney, Charles F. Gilchrest, had in the past argued that it couldn’t be determined whether Ms. Couch actually used the weapon inside the home during the standoff.

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