By JUSTIN STORY, Bowling Green Daily News

Former 7th District Court Judge Sue Carol Browning was arrested Thursday by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office after she was reportedly witnessed slashing the tires of a truck parked in a lot in Auburn.

Browning, 60, of Auburn, was booked into Simpson County Detention Center on charges of tampering with physical evidence, two counts of second-degree criminal mischief, two counts of second-degree disorderly conduct, second-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot) and menacing.

The evidence tampering charge is a felony offense, and the remaining counts are misdemeanors.

No attorney for Browning is listed in online court records pertaining to the case and she did not immediately return requests for comment left on an email address and social media account for her.

According to the sheriff’s office, several parents attending a Thanksgiving meal at Auburn School notified LCSO School Resource Officer Vince Brown that a woman was seen with a knife threatening to cut parents’ tires in a parking lot close to the school.

Brown said in an arrest citation that he learned that the school secretary had received a call shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday from the woman, later identified as Browning, regarding people parking their vehicles in her church without having permission to do so and that she would start slashing their tires if they did not leave.

Brown left the school to investigate, going to a parking lot at 141 N. Lincoln St., where he reportedly witnessed Browning slash two tires of a pickup truck.

“Upon seeing this happen, I yelled for (Browning) to stop and turn around to face me,” Brown said in the arrest citation. “(Browning) raised the knife up above her head and yelled that she had punctured the tires and that she did not have time to talk to me. When she attempted to walk to me with the knife raised above her head, I began to pull out my service weapon and she stopped proceeding forward.”

Browning reportedly then lowered the knife, said she was late for a wedding and ran into a building that was determined to be her business, the sheriff’s office said.

Brown yelled for Browning to come outside, and when she came out she said she has told people not to park on her property “to avoid any issues,” the arrest citation said.

The deputy noted in the citation that he did not see any signs on the property that disallowed parking or warned against trespassing.

Browning was released from jail Friday on her own recognizance and is due to appear in Logan District Court on Nov. 29 for arraignment.

Browning was a district court judge serving Logan and Todd counties for 20 years, beginning with her appointment to the seat in 1995.

She won multiple subsequent elections and remained on the bench until the end of her last term in 2015, after announcing she would not run for re-election.

Browning is listed as a current member of the Kentucky Bar Association, with that organization’s website listing her areas of legal practice as estate planning and probate, family law, general practice, real estate and wills.

Prior to becoming a judge, Browning worked as a private attorney representing several companies and then served as a public defender and later as assistant county attorney in Logan County.

Her community involvement has included stints as the president of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce, president of the Russellville and Auburn Rotary Clubs and director of the Logan County Airport Board.