No injuries; police say man was trying to intimidate child victim in abuse case
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Douglas Kohen
EAST CALN — A township man is charged with firing a gun six times into a house in an apparent attempt to intimidate a child witness against him in a pending child abuse case, Sunday.
Douglas Kohen, 62, is charged with firing six rounds into a West Goshen home, where a child — the victim and primary witness in a child abuse case stemming from a January incident — a sibling and their father were home. Reportedly, Kohen fired shots from a .357 through a front window of the home in the early morning hours of Sunday, but did not hit anyone. A hearing on the January matter was scheduled for Wednesday.
The father of the child told police he heard a disturbance outside of his home a little after 3 a.m. Sunday and reportedly saw Kohen, first yelling and then grabbing an item from the front seat of his 2010 Toyota. The item, the father said, was a gun — prompting him to grab one child and yell to the other to get down. Shortly after a torrent of bullets — all six in the high-powered revolver — ripped through the window and through the building.
The child’s father managed to get the kids down on the floor and guide them to the back of the building, while calling 911. The bullets from the gun went entirely through the house and entered another residence, where two adults and three children were sleeping, but no one was harmed, although authorities described the kids involved as “badly frightened.”
“This defendant shot directly through a window, just missing a child,” said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. “We are not going to permit witness intimidation in Chester County, especially where children are involved. It was only by dumb luck and God’s grace that this defendant did not kill a child.“
Kohen then, police said, fled the scene in his car. He was apprehended by West Goshen Police after rolling his car. As Downingtown Police had rapidly put “Be On The Lookout — BOLO” information out to the rest of the area’s law enforcement community, West Goshen Police immediately determined the driver in the crash was Kohen, allegedly recovered the weapon as well as shell casings(and 36 more rounds of ammunition) and took him into custody. Kohen is suspected of driving under the influence, also.
“The Downingtown Police Department responded rapidly and professionally to this violent attack,” said
Acting Downingtown Chief of Police Howard Holland. “By putting flash information out about the defendant and his vehicle, that enabled our colleagues at the West Goshen Police Department to catch the defendant and disarm him. He was taken off the street within hours of the attack.“
Authorities said that Kohen was out on bail after being arrested on Jan. 7 and charged with charged with corruption of minors, indecent assault, and related offenses for abusing a child under the age of 10. The new charges include attempted murder, witness intimidation, and related offenses. He is now in custody at Chester County Prison in lieu of $1,000,000 bail.
“These poor kids were scared to death,” Hogan said. “This defendant is going to face the full weight of the Chester County justice system.”
