DA: Alleged abuser tries to silence accuser

An East Caln Township man allegedly intent on silencing an accuser unleashed a hail of gunfire on Sunday, March 6, into a mobile home occupied by multiple people, including two children, said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, adding that miraculously no one was hit.

Kohen
Douglas L. Kohen

On Monday, March 7, Hogan and Downingtown Borough acting Police Chief Howard Holland announced the arrest of 63-year-old Douglas L. Kohen for attempted murder, witness intimidation, and related offenses, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office.

“This defendant shot directly through a window, just missing a child,” said Hogan in the release.  “It was only by dumb luck and God’s grace that this defendant did not kill a child.”

Kohen was apprehended in West Goshen Township, where he had flipped his car and was also charged with suspected drunk-driving, the criminal complaint said.  Police reportedly found Kohen’s gun with six spent shell casings and 36 more rounds of live ammunition in his vehicle.

The complaint said Kohen admitted to the shooting and then began to hyperventilate. Police called an ambulance, which prompted Kohen to throw himself on the floor and attempt to bang his head on the door. When medical personnel arrived and attempted to restrain him, he tried to bite one of them, the complaint said.

The shooting occurred three days before Kohen was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on charges that he had molested the young daughter of his next-door neighbor, one of the children inside the home he targeted. He had been released after posting 10 percent of $25,000 bail in that case, the complaint said.

The complaint said Kohen approached the side window of the residence containing the child victim, her father, and another child around 3 a.m. on Sunday, March 6. One of the children was on a couch next to the window. Police said Kohen fired six rounds from a .357 caliber revolver directly through the window.  The father, who had been at the front of the trailer, grabbed the two children and crawled into the back of the trailer, calling 9-1-1.

Hogan said the bullets went through the window, through the back wall of the residence, and into another residence containing two adults and three children.

“These poor kids were scared to death,” said Hogan in the release.  “This defendant is going to face the full weight of the Chester County justice system.”

Magisterial District Judge Thomas Tartaglio set Kohen’s bail at $1 million cash, and Kohen was remanded to Chester County Prison to await a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, March 9.

The case was investigated by the Downingtown Police Department, with assistance from the West Goshen Township Police Department, Uwchlan Township Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office.  Anybody with any information should contact Downingtown Detective Andy Trautmann, the lead investigator, at 610-269-0263, the release said.

“The Downingtown Police Department responded rapidly and professionally to this violent attack,” said Holland in the release.  “He was taken off the street within hours of the attack.”

 

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)
Loading...

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply