Second time in six months local is charged for terroristic threats

Published 6:50 pm Saturday, August 11, 2012

An Austin man who pleaded guilty in a February case to terroristic threats has again been charged with the same crime.

Jamie Lee Chris Schammel, 32, was arrested on Aug. 8 and charged on Friday. He also faces a misdemeanor assault charge.

According to the court complaint, a woman went to Schammel’s home to retrieve money she was owed but claims she was kicked in the face once and shoved in the face two times. Another man, with the alleged victim, intervened and seconds the victim’s story. That man adds that Schammel threatened to burn down his home, according to the complaint.

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Schammel claims that the woman struck him in the face and caused his face to bleed. The victim denies hitting Schammel, and she and the man who went to Schammel’s home claim he was already bleeding when he came out of the house.

In a pending February case, Schammel reportedly went to Lyle and got into a dispute with a man at the Lyle Body Shop. The complaint then states that police arrived and found Schammel’s father — who said he was defending himself — standing near Schammel’s car with a board. Schammel, said his father was going to give his belongings away if he did not retrieve them. Schammel showed deputies video of the dispute from the vehicle he was driving, which contained a camera, the complaint states. However, the complaint adds that Schammel said the car was not his, and he did not know who it belonged to. The complaint says police found the wrench on the passenger’s seat of that car.

Police arrested Schammel and put him in the squad car, and Schammel attempted to kick out the rear window, the complaint adds.

Schammel was convicted for third-degree murder in 2003 because of his role in a meth lab explosion that killed a man. He was also convicted of fifth-degree domestic assault in November 2009.

He has a pretrial in this most recent case scheduled for Aug. 23.