A Parks Township woman is accused of grabbing a police officer’s gun while being arrested for allegedly assaulting her partner during a domestic dispute, according to police.
Although she didn’t get control of the gun, Leah Rachelle Wuchevich, 31, is charged with a felony count of disarming a law enforcement officer along with lesser charges of resisting arrest, simple assault and disorderly conduct in connection with the Dec. 12 incident.
She is being detained in the Armstrong County Jail after failing to post a $25,000 bond, according to court records. She faces a Dec. 22 preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring.
Kiski Township police say they went to Wuchevich’s Kepple Avenue apartment shortly before 2 a.m. for a report of a domestic dispute, according to a criminal complaint.
Wuchevich and her partner both “appeared to be highly intoxicated” when police arrived, the complaint said.
Police said they tried to take Wuchevich into custody for biting her partner’s right thumb, which was bleeding.
But as an officer tried to escort Wuchevich from the home, she grabbed hold of his holstered firearm, the complaint said.
The officer was able to push Wuchevich’s hands away and restrain her arms while another officer helped take her into custody, according to the complaint.
Police said a medic unit was called while Wuchevich was being transported to jail because she appeared to stop breathing.
The officer tried to revive her before medics arrived, but as Wuchevich came to she became combative and screamed that the officer was trying to rape her, the complaint said.
After Wuchevich refused to be checked by a medic, the officer drove her to ACMH Hospital, where she was examined, police said.
She was taken to jail after being released from the hospital, according to the complaint.
