The Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced that Tonisha A. Green, 27, of Amherst, pleaded guilty on Oct. 1, 2026, to four counts of Menacing a Police Officer (class D violent felonies) and one count of Menacing in the Second Degree (a class A misdemeanor).
According to a news release from District Attorney Michael J. Keane, the charges stem from incidents on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, 2025. The release says Green displayed a knife at an apartment complex on Durham Drive on Oct. 27, 2025, placing a civilian in reasonable fear of injury. The next day, Amherst police returned to Durham Drive, where officers say Green again armed herself with a knife, ignored repeated commands to drop it, made repeated threats to kill officers and advanced toward them. An officer discharged his firearm during the confrontation, and Green was injured and taken to ECMC for treatment.
The DA’s office said it previously completed a review of the officer-involved critical incident and determined that the officer’s actions were legally justified because officers reasonably believed they were facing deadly physical force. The prosecution of the case was handled by Assistant District Attorney Samantha King of the Major Crimes Bureau.
Green faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. The release states that she remains released under the supervision of the Probation Department.
This account is based on a news release issued by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
