Spring Woman Accused of Trying to Run Down Victim With Car, Faces Deadly Conduct Charge

A woman accused of damaging property and then swerving her vehicle toward another person during a disturbance in Spring has been charged with deadly conduct and criminal mischief. Deputies with Constable Mark Herman's office booked 5000 block of Forest Hurst Glen resident Taylor Sweat into the Harris County Jail on Tuesday after investigating the incident, and a Harris County court set her bond at $5,100.

According to a Facebook post from Constable Mark Herman's office, deputies responded to an active disturbance in the 5000 block of Forest Hurst Glen involving a known female allegedly damaging property. Once on scene, investigators say Sweat swerved her vehicle toward the complainant. Constable Herman said in the post that using a vehicle in a manner that puts another person in danger is reckless and could have resulted in serious injury.

Deputies took Sweat into custody at the scene. During booking, authorities discovered she had nine open traffic warrants for her arrest, according to the same post. Those outstanding warrants alone would have given officers legal grounds for an immediate custodial arrest, since Texas law treats unresolved traffic warrants as active until a court appearance or bond payment clears them, according to FindLaw.

What the Charges Actually Mean

Sweat was charged with deadly conduct and criminal mischief, per the post. Under Texas Penal Code Section 22.05, deadly conduct covers recklessly placing another person in imminent danger of serious bodily injury and is classified as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail and fines as high as $4,000, FindLaw notes. The charge does not require that the victim actually be struck or injured.

Vehicles are not automatically considered deadly weapons under Texas law, but they can qualify depending on how they are used. Texas Penal Code Section 1.07(a)(17) defines a deadly weapon as anything capable of causing death or serious bodily injury in the manner of its use, which allows prosecutors to treat a car driven aggressively at a person as meeting that legal threshold, per FindLaw. The deadly conduct charge would only rise to a third-degree felony if a firearm were discharged at a person, vehicle, or occupied building — which is not alleged here.

The criminal mischief charge stems from the alleged property damage described in the disturbance call. Texas Penal Code Section 28.03 defines criminal mischief as intentionally or knowingly damaging or destroying another person's property without consent, with penalties that escalate from a Class C misdemeanor to a felony depending on the dollar value of the loss, according to FindLaw. The dossier does not specify how much damage was allegedly caused, so it remains unclear what level of criminal mischief charge Sweat ultimately faces.

Bond Set in Harris County Misdemeanor Court

Sweat's $5,100 bond was set out of Harris County County Court at Law No. 16, one of 16 misdemeanor courts in the county that handle Class A and Class B cases. Harris County's misdemeanor bail system generally favors personal recognizance bonds for nonviolent offenses, but secured cash bonds remain standard when a case involves an alleged public safety threat, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Constable Mark Herman's office, which made the arrest, is the largest constable agency in the country, employing more than 670 sworn deputies who cover 520 square miles and serve over 1.1 million residents across northern Harris County, including Spring, Humble and Tomball. The agency shares arrest details and public safety alerts through its C4 NOW mobile app and social media channels.

It remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue additional charges, such as felony assault, based on further investigation or grand jury review. The dossier does not indicate that any such charges have been filed or are pending.