Sep 28, 2018 2 min read

A Brownsville woman is in jail after she allegedly attempted to hit someone with her car Wednesday, then made threats and demanded money from the Denbo-Vesta Six Volunteer Fire Department Thursday.

Melanie Austin, 54, of 250 Driftwood Road, was charged by West Brownsville police with recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct following a traffic stop at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. Police said Heather Lucci was standing on the side of the street near her house in the 300 block of Jefferson Avenue when Austin, who had been driving her Jeep in the area with loud music playing, “looked straight at her and raced the vehicle’s engine,” the criminal complaint said.

The complaint said Austin drove at Lucci “at a fast rate,” while screaming at her and waiving her arms out of the sunroof. Police said Austin steered away to avoid striking Lucci, but Lucci told police she still feared for her life.

The next day, Centerville police charged Austin in a different case with defiant trespass and two counts each of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct following an incident at the fire department Thursday morning.

Police said Austin went to the department and demanded that firefighter William Gill give her $200 by 11 p.m. Thursday, or “she would be returning with a weapon,” the criminal complaint said. Austin had previously received written notification from the department that she was not permitted to be on the property.

Austin was stopped by Centerville police on Community Street shortly after. While police arrested her, she allegedly used racial slurs and threatened them, saying, “I’ll take you out,” the complaint said.

Austin was arraigned Thursday afternoon by District Judge Joshua Kanalis and jailed on $10,000 bond.