Attempted Murder, Arson Charges Filed Against Main Line Doctor

MERION, PA — A doctor from Narberth has been charged with attempted murder, ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault, and more crimes after Lower Merion Police said she set fire to a Merion home last month.

Dr. Amy Cohen, 35, of Narberth, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, terroristic threats, arson, risking catastrophe, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, stalking, ethnic intimidation, and more, Lower Merion Police said.

The charges stem from an investigation that launched in Nov. 24. Police said a threatening flyer with antisemitic language was left at the victim's home in Merion around that time. The flyer made specific references to the victim's granddaughters, who do not reside with the victim.

Police later learned that similar flyers were found at homes of the victim's family members in Montgomery County and Philadelphia.

Lower Merion Police teamed up with Philadelphia Police and the FBI to investigate the origin of the flyers.

Then on Nov. 30, Lower Merion Police obtained footage from one of the victim's family members, which showed a woman setting a fire at the victim's front door at about 1:30 a.m. that same day. The footage showed the woman trying to accelerate the fire by spraying it with flammable liquid, police said.

The fire burned out without engulfing the porch and home. Fire companies, police, and the FBI processed the scene and evaluated the evidence, which helped investigators identify a suspect who previously dated a boyfriend of the victim's granddaughter, police said. Police said that suspect was Cohen.

Search warrants were obtained for Cohen, her home, and her vehicle, then executed Friday. Police said the searches revealed evidence connecting Cohen to all these incidents.

Cohen charged Friday and arraigned on Saturday.

She is being held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $5 million dollars cash bail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13, court records show.

A page on the Bryn Mawr Specialists website listing Amy L. Cohen, D.O., as a staff member was removed from the website Monday.

The lawyer listed for Cohen in court documents told Patch he is not representing her. No further information was immediately available.

Patch has reached out to Bryn Mawr Specialists for more information and will update the story when additional details are made available.