Neighbor jailed after video shows her threatening to kill couple over yard sign

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A bunch of neighbors on Indianapolis’ northwest side said Tuesday they have been alarmed by one woman’s behavior, which they say has been harassing and racist. 

They said they fear her behavior could turn violent.  

On Wednesday, their neighbor, 67-year-old Vicki New, was in the Marion County Jail on preliminary charges of criminal trespass and battery resulting in bodily injury. The county prosecutor’s office said it is still reviewing the case before formal charges are filed. 

The neighborhood is off West 62nd Street between Zionsville and Georgetown roads, just north of Northwestway Park. Frustration brewing for three years came to a head Sunday. It was all caught on camera. 

“She keeps telling us she’s going to kill us, and we’re not sure when that night’s going to come,” said Miguel Rios, one of the people she threatened. 

The neighbor, identified by neighbors as New, is shown threatening to kill her neighbors in the video posted on social media. She declined Tuesday to speak to News 8 on camera, but said that Rios lunged at her before the cameras started rolling on the social media video.

Rios said Tuesady that New’s statement is not true. 

The video shows New throwing “no trespassing” signs, which had been put in the yard, at the couple.

“Threw it on my face and after that she broke the other one and it hit my wife in the face,” he said Tuesday as he  described the scene on the video.

Living next to New and her husband has “been a living nightmare,” Rios said.

The community asked for a school bus stop to be moved away from New and her husband’s home. They all live on Twin Creeks Drive in the Brookstone subdivision.

“I feel safe when I’m indoors because I know that she can’t go in there,” said Lizeth Gamez, who lives two doors down. 

Rios and his wife, Luvia Roman, got surveillance cameras installed on their home and have their 4-year-old daughter ride her bike inside. 

“She’s terrified to come out to play because of this lady,” Roman said Tuesday. 

New and her husband have lived in their home for three years. They told WISH-TV they are provoked by their neighbors and are not rude or racist. 

Corey Banks lives across the street and showed WISH-TV a video he said shows otherwise. 

“It makes me feel angry because it’s 2018, and no one in 2018 should be living like this,” he said Tuesday. 

New said she has called the police to make sure her community is safe. “See something, say something,” she said. 

But, some neighbors said there is nothing to see. 

New said Tuesday she believes her neighbors Miguel and Luvia sell drugs. Miguel and Luvia said they have had police called to their home seemingly constantly. 

“They didn’t find anything. Whoever wants to come in is welcome in my home,” Luvia said. 

Other neighbors of Luvia and Miguel said they are afraid for the couple’s lives. However, the neighbor said, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told them they cannot get involved unless a crime is committed. No crime has happened. 

Some neighbors said they fear it could be a tragedy when that happens.     

News said Tuesday that IMPD has told her she’s called police so many times they could arrest her for abuse of 911. 

New and her husband maintain they are not the bad guys and that they are afraid for their own safety to the point they want to move. They said Tuesday that one neighbor, Banks, approached them with a baseball bat. 

Banks responded Tuesday by saying he was merely holding a baseball bat because New called him and his daughter a racial slur. He never left his property across the street.