Man accused of displaying gun in West Salem neighborhood before standoff with police
A man showed a handgun as he stood in a West Salem neighborhood street and got into a nearly two-hour standoff with police before surrendering, according to the Salem Police Department.
Police arrested Mark A. Coutis, 55, of West Salem, on Friday, Feb. 14, on accusations of stalking, menacing and unlawful use of a weapon, according to a news release Monday evening. Court records showed no charges filed as of Tuesday morning.
Around 7:30 p.m. that night, officers responded to a report that an armed man had stood in the street in the 1500 block of Northwest Ruge Street while yelling and brandishing a handgun. The man fled before police arrived, police said.
“Soon after, officers contacted the suspect, identified as Coutis, but he refused to exit,” according to the police statement.
After almost two hours of negotiations with a trained crisis negotiator, Coutis surrendered and was taken into custody. Police said they seized six firearms from his residence.
Coutis was booked into the Polk County Jail, where he remained in custody as of Tuesday morning, the jail’s roster showed.
Coutis was also charged this past July with unlawful possession of a firearm in a case that is still pending. He was accused of trying to bring a gun into West Valley Hospital in Dallas before being stopped by security and putting it in his car. Police searched a backpack in the car and found a pistol – which he was barred from having due to a restraining order – as well as three loaded magazines and a silencer, according to a Dallas Police Department affidavit.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
