Mom Allegedly Pulled Gun at Conn. Chuck E. Cheese's

Feb. 6, 2013
According to police, Tawana Bourne was arguing with another woman at the children's restaurant.

NEWINGTON, Conn. -- A PTO mom who said she rediscovered God, conquered a crack cocaine addiction and pursued her dream of working with children was arrested Monday after she allegedly brandished a handgun at Chuck E. Cheese's.

According to police, Tawana Bourne argued with another woman at the children's restaurant on the Berlin Turnpike. Both women had children with them.

"During this argument, Bourne allegedly brandished a .380 semiautomatic handgun and chambered a round," police stated in a press release. She had a valid permit for the gun, they said.

Staff members called police and Bourne was charged with three counts of risk of injury to a minor and one count each of second-degree threatening and first-degree reckless endangerment. She posted $50,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in New Britain on Feb. 19.

"I'm a very good person," Bourne said Tuesday. "Very, very involved in the community."

Shkurte Berisha of New Britain said she hasn't seen that side of Bourne.

Berisha said she was the woman on the other end of Bourne's gun. She said she had just talked to Bourne's son, who she said is 5, after he pushed Berisha's 2-year-old daughter off a children's ride. Berisha said eight or nine people were in the restaurant at the time.

Bourne came over and repeatedly told her to "Watch your tone with my son," Berisha said.

Berisha, still consoling her crying daughter, said she eventually responded that Bourne, whom she doesn't know, should watch her kid.

Berisha said Bourne pulled a pistol out of her right pocket, and she heard two clicks. Bourne pointed the gun at her, Berisha said. Berisha pushed her daughter behind her so she would be safe, she said.

Berisha, who is from Kosovo, said she asked, "Do you really think I'm scared of that thing?"

Bourne finally put the gun away, Berisha said, and Berisha she called 911 on her cellphone.

Bourne disputed the police version of the story, saying she didn't wave a gun around as they suggested.

"That's incorrect," Bourne said. She didn't elaborate, however, and referred questions to her lawyer, Carmine J. Giuliano.

Bourne, 30, of Middletown, the mother of two boys, founded a Middletown-based, nonprofit organization called Healthy Home Healthy Child, which works with parents on crisis prevention and intervention, according to the Urban Alliance, a nonprofit Christian organization in Hartford.

Healthy Home Healthy Child is one of several groups Bourne is involved with that helps children, the Urban Alliance says. A profile of Bourne that the alliance had on its website Tuesday is accurate, Bourne said.

She also said she didn't wave a gun in the children's restaurant while arguing with another woman as police alleged.

"That's incorrect," Bourne said. She didn't elaborate, however, and referred questions to her lawyer, Carmine J. Giuliano.

According to the profile, Bourne grew up "a very spiritually aware child" but strayed from her faith in her late teens. She "ended up caught in a lifestyle of drugs and everything that goes along with them," it states.

"It began by dealing drugs on the streets, and ended with her becoming addicted to crack cocaine," it states.

Bourne realized she had to change her life drastically in order to "live out her ... dream of working with children."

"Tawana ... believes she was delivered from the demons of addictions through prayer at a church service. Soon after she experienced these transformations, she became pregnant with her first son and stumbled across ABC Women's Center in Middletown," the profile states. There, according to the profile, she found the Christian support she desperately desired.

Now, Bourne runs Healthy Home Healthy Child and does work for CT Parent Power, which encourages parents to act on children's issues, the profile states.

She also works through Middlesex Hospital to provide child development education services to pregnant women and children up to 3 years old, it states. A hospital spokesman couldn't be reached Tuesday night.

Giuliano, Bourne's lawyer, said Bourne has a good job and has never been in trouble. She described herself as a social worker when they spoke, he said.

They were not able to discuss her case in detail yet, Giuliano said, but, "She claims the allegations are not true."

His client is innocent until proven guilty, he said.

"Bottom line is, being arrested means absolutely nothing," Giuliano said.

Courant Staff Writer Hilda Munoz contributed to this story.

Copyright 2013 - The Hartford Courant

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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