Suspect charged in Cooper County hostage standoff

A Columbia man has been charged in connection to holding a woman hostage and forcing authorities into a standoff in Cooper County.

Tremaine Terelle Vaughns, 31, has been charged with first degree domestic assault, armed criminal action, felonious restraint and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

The situation started around 7 a.m. Friday on Hunters Ridge Court east of Boonville when the Cooper County Sheriff’s Department got a call from the hostage, a woman who said she was being held against her will by a man with a gun. Cooper County Sheriff Jerry Wolfe said the two are in a relationship, and that the situation appears to have started with an argument.

Deputies, helped by troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, got to the scene, and a hostage negotiator started talking to Vaughns. The situation ended peacefully around 9 a.m. when Vaughns turned himself over to authorities.

The hostage was not hurt.

Vaughns is being held in the Cooper County Jail on a $250,000 bond.