66-Year-Old Woman Attacks Officers With Fire

LILBURN, GA — A 66-year-old woman with a history of run-ins with local police and government officials is in Gwinnett County Jail after attacking officers with a flaming broom doused in kerosene, authorities say.

Irene Mercedes Handy, of Lilburn, was arrested Thursday on charges of aggravated assault against a police officer, terroristic threats and acts and harassing phone calls.

Thursday morning, Lilburn Police went to Handy's address to investigate reports of an offensive banner hanging from her house on Old Manor Road. They determined that the banner's content was legal, but that it violated the city's sign ordinance because it was bigger than temporary signs are allowed to be, said police Capt. Thomas Bardugon.

While officers were talking to Handy about the banner, they discovered she had previously made threatening phone calls to Gwinnett County State Court Judge Carla Brown, Bardugon said. The calls included threats against the judge's life. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

As officers were securing arrest warrants, they say Handy came out of a second-story window of her home and began shouting obscenities at them. Then, as they approached the front door of her home to make the arrest, she opened the door brandishing a flaming broom that had been doused with kerosene, police say.

One officer was slightly burned in the attack, police said. The injured officer was able to knock the broom to the ground.

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