A 60-year-old Conway woman was placed into police custody Thursday night after a caller reported a woman throwing a kitchen knife at passing vehicles in a subdivision.

Officers with the Conway Police Department were dispatched to a residence in the 1700 block of Sweetspire Lane around 9:45 p.m. Thursday after a caller reported a disturbance in the area.

A man inside of a vehicle at the scene flagged officers down and reported that as he was leaving the subdivision, he witnessed an elderly woman run out of her house and throw a large knife at the vehicle in front of him.

According to the witness, the woman then ran into the roadway and retrieved the knife and threw it at his vehicle, but missed. The man reported that had stopped in a cul-de-sac to speak to the female driver in the car ahead of him and to contact police when the woman ran again ran into the street and retrieved the knife again, then ran inside, reportedly “screaming and cussing ... the entire time...”

When police spoke with the female motorist, she said she was driving east on Sweetspire when she heard a “thud” at the passenger side of her vehicle. The woman said she didn’t know what had happened or what hit her vehicle, so she stopped in the cul-de-sac to determine what had happened and witnessed the elderly woman in the street, screaming at another vehicle before throwing a knife at it. The woman corroborated the man’s statement, saying the elderly woman then retrieved the knife and ran inside “screaming and cursing.”

When another officer arrived on scene, both officers attempted to make contact with the woman at her home, where they found the woman holding a large kitchen knife, tapping it knife on a window and “yelling incoherently.”

A third officer arrived as the woman continued to yell, threatening to kill officers while running the knife across her neck and telling them they “were next.”

When an officer asked the woman whether she was OK or needed any help, the woman reportedly cussed him “several more times,” telling him he was “a traitor,” and that she was going to gut him.

Officers attempted to speak with the woman to see if she would allow them in the house and put the knife down.

After about five minutes, the woman allowed an officer inside and went and sat on the couch, setting the knife on her lap and then on the couch when the officer asked her to move the knife further away.

The officer continued to speak with the woman, attempting to calm her and after another five minutes, the officer determined he had “somewhat gained her trust and was close enough” to secure her arms faster than she could grab for the knife.

The officer then grabbed the woman by each of her arms, pulling her away from the knife as she began screaming and cursing.

The officer rolled the woman on to her stomach, and with the help of two other officers, placed her in handcuffs.

The woman was transported to Faulkner County jail, where she was booked and jailed on a charge of drunken, insane and disorderly and held for evaluation by Counseling Associates.

(Megan Reynolds is a staff writer and can be reached by phone at 501-505-1277 or by e-mail at megan.reynolds@thecabin.net. To comment on this story and others, visit www.thecabin.net.)