Hatfield woman jailed for pointing gun at sheriff’s deputies

NORRISTOWN >> A Hatfield Borough woman who threatened Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies with a pellet gun as they tried to serve her with a warrant, leading to a fivehour standoff with police, has been sentenced to prison.

Kelly Melissa Grater, 47, of the 300 block of West Broad Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1½-to-6years in the State Correctional Institution at Muncy after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault in connection with the February 2018 incident at her residence.

Judge Risa Vetri Ferman ordered Grater to undergo a psychological evaluation and to comply with all recommendations for treatment. Grater will be evaluated for mental health supervision, the judge said.

Grater must forfeit the BB guns seized from her home to the district attorney’s office, the judge said.

With the assault-related charge, prosecutors alleged Grater did attempt by physical menace to place deputies in fear of imminent serious bodily injury while in the performance of their official duties.

No one was injured during the incident.

Hatfield Township police were dispatched to Grater’s home about 4:34 p.m. Feb. 21, 2018, to assist two county sheriff’s deputies who reported Grater pointed a firearm at them while refusing to surrender on a county bench warrant, according to a criminal complaint.

The deputies told police that they received no responses to their knocks at the door as they tried to serve the warrant but then noticed Grater at a secondfloor window of the residence. Court documents do not indicate the nature of the warrant being served upon Grater.

The deputies asked Grater to come to the front door and she allegedly responded, “I am not coming to my door and I will show you why,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Grater appeared to reach down for something and “then re-appeared in the window with a gun in her hand” and pointed it at the deputies, Hatfield Township Detective Daniel J. Tinneny alleged in the criminal complaint. The deputies were in fear for their safety and backed off, moved away from the residence and took cover, court papers indicate.

As she held the weapon, Grater allegedly stated, “I am coming out with my gun” and “I am going to commit suicide by cop.”

The Montgomery County SWAT Central Region Team responded to the scene to assist police. Authorities negotiated with Grater in an attempt to get her to surrender for about five hours but to no avail, Tinneny alleged.

Despite several deployments of chemical agents into the residence, Grater allegedly remained inside and refused lawful commands to exit the residence. Eventually, at 9:35 p.m., authorities entered the residence and took Grater into custody, court papers indicate.

“During negotiations, two black BB guns were thrown from the residence and were recovered by officers,” Tinneny wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Other charges of simple assault, terroristic threats, resisting arrest and possessing a firearm with intent to employ it criminally, were dismissed against Grater in exchange for her guilty plea to the felony aggravated assault charge.

Police officers from Lansdale and Souderton boroughs and Franconia and Montgomery townships, as well as Volunteer Medical Service Corps and Montgomery County Department of Public Safety assisted Hatfield Township police at the scene.