WEST CHESTER, Ohio — A well-known Butler County business owner is facing charges of felonious assault and domestic violence after police say he assaulted his wife on their way home from an event.
Jeffery Couch, 52, owner of Jeff Couch RV in Trenton, Ohio, punched his wife in the face “multiple times and slammed her head onto a paved driveway multiple times,” according a court document filed by West Chester police.
Couch was arrested around 1:30 a.m. Saturday after police responded to his West Chester Township home.
Township spokesperson Barb Wilson said police answered a call at 11:30 p.m. Friday evening for reports of a woman screaming in her driveway. When they arrived, they noted debris in the driveway. Police spoke with Couch, who was inside his home at the time, and “noted things were disheveled,” Wilson said.
Police also received a call from West Chester Hospital that Shelley Couch had been admitted with serious injuries. Shelley alleges she was in the car with Jeffery when an argument broke out that spilled into the driveway when they arrived home. Wilson said Shelley claims Jeffery assaulted her, and she ran to a neighbor's home for help. That neighbor then drove her to the hospital.
Couch's bond was set at $16,000 during a Monday video arraignment, according to the Journal-News.
“Mr. Couch has no criminal record, he is a business owner here in Butler County, he’s got extensive ties here in the community,” said Erik Niehaus, Couch’s attorney. “He understands a protection order is likely to be issued in this case.”
Niehaus said in court he has talked with Couch's wife by cell. “She told me she was not in fear of him,” he said.
She is not opposed to him being released on bond, but she does want a protection order, Niehaus said.
Couch's case will be heard in Area III Court but a date and time has not yet been set.
