West Newton woman jailed on $25K bond after police say she violated PFA, threatened officer

A West Newton woman was jailed this week after an hours-long standoff with the state police Special Emergency Response Team at a home in the borough.

Tiffany M. Leighty, 53, was ordered held in the county prison on $25,000 bond Wednesday for violation of a domestic abuse order, according to court documents. On Friday, police filed a second criminal complaint against Leighty after they say she made terroristic threats against a borough policeman, resulting in a standoff that began about 6 p.m. Tuesday and continued for several hours into Wednesday morning.

Leighty was served with a PFA Tuesday by a resident at the home in the 300 block of Blackburn Street before she went to Mon Valley Hospital in Carroll Township for a health evaluation, according to police. But officers say she fled the hospital and returned to the West Newton home.

Borough Officer Michael Stefko reported that, when he arrived at the residence, the occupant who answered the door “said everything is OK and he didn’t need police.”

Police returned to the residence at 6:05 p.m. after someone called 911, but hung up before speaking.

When Stefko returned to the house and knocked on the door, he heard a voice he recognized as Leighty’s coming from inside the home, stating that she was “going to get a gun and shoot that (expletive) cop.”

Stefko said he heard another person in the home say “drop it.” He took cover and called for backup, including the state police SERT unit, according to court papers.

After Leighty failed to surrender surrender, Stefko obtained a search warrant enabling police to enter the residence. Troopers forcibly entered the home Wednesday morning and found Leighty “hiding in a wall,” Stefko wrote.

Leighty had to be forcibly removed from the home and became combative with police, Stefko said. She had to be Tasered as she was taken into custody, police said.

Leighty was taken to Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg for a medical evaluation before her arraignment. She was ordered held in the county prison for violation of a PFA.

She is scheduled to be arraigned on the terroristic threats charge involving Stefko on Tuesday.