OCEANSIDE: Police chief's wife pleads not guilty

OFF THE WIRE
Orange County judge orders all firearms removed from chief's home
 BRANDON LOWREY - blowrey@nctimes.com
North County Times - The Californian
The wife of Oceanside's police chief pleaded not guilty Wednesday to firing one of her husband's guns at officers who were trying to talk her out of suicide during a three-hour standoff at the couple's Orange County home.
After Brinda Sue McCoy, 47, entered her plea at the Santa Ana courthouse, Orange County Superior Court Judge Erick L. Larsh ordered her and her husband to remove all firearms from their home ---- including Chief Frank McCoy's service weapon.
Larsh also signed an order that restricts Brinda McCoy, a registered nurse, from practicing her profession until she completes a mental health evaluation.
McCoy faces five felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and three more of discharging a firearm with gross negligence. She could face up to 58 years in prison if convicted.
McCoy has remained free on $250,000 bond since December and is set to return to court in March.
Court documents obtained Wednesday reveal more details about a tense standoff with Cypress police officers and show she may have been trying to force them to kill her.
At 7:13 p.m., she called the Cypress Police Department and said she didn't feel well, but refused an offer of help from paramedics. Instead, she demanded that police come, adding that she was home alone and wanted to be "taken out of her misery."
The phone line then was disconnected.
Officers arrived to find her standing in the front window of her two-story suburban home, facing them and holding her husband's semiautomatic Sig Sauer .45-caliber handgun to her head, court documents show.
McCoy refused their pleas for her to come outside and she began pacing inside the house between the front door and front window, sometimes pointing the gun at her own head and other times taking aim at the officers who were trying to talk her down.
The officers took cover behind a truck parked in the driveway ---- a Nissan Titan that belonged to the Long Beach Police Department. Her son is a Long Beach police officer and her husband was a commander at that department before he came to Oceanside.
At about 8:30 p.m., McCoy fired a shot at the truck, prompting one officer to report he was afraid for his life and the others at the scene, according to court documents.
The officers retreated to find better cover.
McCoy later fired a second round that struck a Toyota Prius, shattering its front passenger window. The bullets became lodged in both of the vehicles.
Throughout the standoff, she made several calls to friends and may have fired a round inside the house before police arrived, court documents say.
SWAT team officers eventually arrived and took over.
At 10:23 p.m., she stepped outside. SWAT officers shot her in the chest with a beanbag shotgun and arrested her, the document said. No police officers were injured during the standoff.
Records show she was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, then moved to a psychiatric hospital.
Cypress detectives have since combed through her phone records and obtained warrants to search the McCoys' home and the two vehicles she shot.
On Wednesday, McCoy faced Judge Larsh wearing neat, dark slacks, a matching jacket and a simple white pearl necklace around her neck. She appeared both nervous and subdued, saying little but frequently glancing over her shoulder at the audience in the courtroom.
Prosecutor Rebecca Olivieri said Chief McCoy had several guns at the couple's home in Cypress at the time of the standoff and insisted they should all be removed. Over defense attorney David Diamond's objections, Larsh ruled that Frank McCoy must secure his service weapon in his car or at the Oceanside Police Department.
The firearm Brinda McCoy is accused of firing at officers was apparently one of Frank McCoy's personal weapons. The Oceanside Police Department issues only 9mm Glock pistols, said Lt. Leonard Mata, the department's spokesman.
Chief McCoy was working Wednesday and was not at the hearing. In addition to his decades-long police career, McCoy was a Cypress city councilman and mayor.
His wife has been a registered nurse since 1992, according to the California Board of Registered Nursing. She had noted on her Facebook page she worked at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.
The couple have five children.
McCoy has a pretrial court date set for March 18.
Call staff writer Brandon Lowrey at 760-740-3517.