Woman Suspected of Using Car to Threaten Man

A Novato woman accused of steering her car toward a man to threaten him last week faces a felony assault charge after surrendering to authorities, said.

Tiffany Ballew, 41, was arrested Tuesday at a friend's home in Fairfield after speaking with Novato police officers on the phone, Sgt. Eric Riddell said. Fairfield police detained Ballew, a biology teacher at San Rafael High School, and Novato police transported her to Marin County Jail on Tuesday night.

According to a police report, a 52-year-old man called police May 25 from a home in the Crossroads neighborhood off South Novato Boulevard to say he had been in a dispute with a woman later identified as Ballew. The man said he had been slapped in the face during a dispute, which continued outside the residence and into a carport area. He claimed Ballew tried to prevent him from using a cell phone to call 911.

The man said Ballew got in a car and accelerated in his direction in what he believed was a threat to run him over, Riddell said.

Novato police reached Ballew at the Fairfield location on Tuesday, leading to her arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon with the possibility of great bodily injury, a felony. She also faces misdemeanors of battery on a spouse/cohabitant, preventing/dissuading the reporting of a crime and violation of a court order to prevent domestic violence. Her bail was set at $50,000.