A Ferndale woman faces a court hearing after police say she threatened a roommate with a knife on Christmas day.
The suspect, Brianna Kingsley, 36, is charged with felony assault and is jailed on $5,000 cash bond.
She faces a probable cause hearing Thursday in Ferndale 43rd District Court.
Kingsley is a transgender woman and is being held in the Oakland County Jail under her former male name in the men’s section. However, she is being held separately from the other men.
Records at the jail show she also has outstanding warrants in Pontiac 50th District Court for assault and obstructing police, and a drunken driving charge in Bloomfield Hills 48th District Court.
Ferndale police said they were called to a house on McDowell about 7:40 p.m. Christmas day.
Ferndale police Sgt. Baron Brown said Kingsley and her roommate, also a transgender woman, got into an argument that escalated.
“We were unable to get anyone to articulate what the reason was for the altercation,” he said.
Police said the two roommates began arguing in the basement and continued the argument in the kitchen.
“In the kitchen, Kingsley grabbed a knife with a 6-inch blade and told the victim to leave the house,” Brown said. “When the victim didn’t immediately comply, the suspect held the knife above her head in a threatening manner.”
At that point a friend of the two roommates stepped between them to allow the other woman to get out of the house without being harmed, police said.
Kingsley was in the bathroom when police arrived.
Officers made their way into the bathroom and confiscated the knife, which police said the suspect had placed on the bathroom counter.
“From that point on Kingsley wouldn’t make any statement about what happened,” Brown said. “But it was clear the actions taken by the suspect made the victim fear for her safety.”
The charge against Kingsley is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
She is due back in Ferndale court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
