Copperas Cove woman in county jail on 26 charges, $670,000 in bonds

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

A Copperas Cove woman is in the Coryell County Jail on $670,000 in bonds after an early morning incident over a missing cellphone in a Louise Street residence last Thursday, July 22.

Teala Lloyd-Patterson, 31, according to the arrest affidavit, pulled a gun in her residence and refused to let three other adults and a total of seven children leave unless her cellphone was returned to her.

The ages of the children ranged from six months to seven years old.

When police were called around 12:40 a.m., the woman who spoke to the dispatcher was one of the ones inside the home.

She told them that Lloyd-Patterson accused her and her husband of taking her cellphone and wouldn’t let any of them leave.

While the dispatcher remained on the line with the woman, there was the sound of a shot fired.

Then Lloyd-Patterson herself called 9-1-1 and the dispatcher attempted to get her to surrender to police, but according to the report, she refused, stating that no one could leave until her cellphone was returned to her.

Meanwhile, the woman who made the initial call to 9-1-1, moved to a spare bedroom, opened the window, and began handing the children through the window to officers outside who had arrived on the scene. Officers also secured a perimeter around the home, nestled in a quiet street not far from Copperas Cove High School.

Eventually, Lloyd-Patterson entered the spare bedroom to argue with the female caller, and police were able to get her to drop the pistol and take her into custody.

The three adults who were prevented from leaving the residence, two females and one male, soke witih officers on the scene and confirmed that all but two of the children were with them in the living room when Lloyd-Patterson initially pulled out the pistol and detained them.

They also told officers that she pointed the pistol at the male and waved it around at “everyone.”

One adult female said that she reminded Lloyd-Patterson that there were children in the room, “but she was indifferent.”

The woman, who was not the one who made the call to 9-1-1, also said that when she attempted to get the pistol away from Lloyd-Patterson, a single round was fired.

Lloyd-Patterson faces a total of 26 charges, to include: deadly conduct – discharge firearm (1); aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (8); unlawful restraint – expose to significant bodily injury (10); and abandon/endanger child – imminent danger of significant bodily injury (7).