QUINCY — A Quincy woman looking to unseat Mayor Thomas Koch in next week's election was summoned to court earlier this year after police accused her of throwing eggs at two homes on her street, according to court records.

Brenda Ryan, an author and researcher who is making her first run for elected office, was charged with defacing property following the incident and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing in December, according to the records. Asked Wednesday about the case, Ryan said the charge is just an "accusation" and declined to comment further.

Police began investigating the incident in late April after the owner of a Cranch Street property a few doors from Ryan's reported that someone had been throwing eggs at the home while her tenant was inside. The tenant later told an officer that he had heard loud noises outside and saw a woman throwing eggs against the house from behind a car. He said he took pictures. The car was registered to Ryan, the police report said.

The owner of the property told police that about 90 minutes earlier she had noticed a woman — now believed to be Ryan — walking up and down the street taking notes. The woman taking notes told the homeowner she was "neighborhood watch," according to a police report.

The homeowner told police she has a second property on Cranch Street that was egged as well.

Ryan was not home when police went to interview her, and two officers returned a month later to follow up, according to the report. When Ryan came do the door, one of the officers told her they were investigating an egging and she replied, "Yeah, that was me," the report said.

"She also said she should apologize to (the victim)," the officer said in his report. "I asked why she would throw eggs at her neighbor's house and she said she'd rather not say."

Police were also called to the area of Cranch Street for an incident involving Ryan in May, a report on file at the Quincy Police Department says, but no charges were filed.

Ryan and Koch earned spots on Tuesday's ballot by getting the most votes in a primary election in September. Koch received 65 percent of the votes cast in the preliminary, while Ryan won 19.4 percent. Tracey Lea Dorgan, a third competitor who did not win a spot in the general election, received 14 percent.

Chris Walker, Koch's chief of staff, said neither the mayor's office nor his campaign would comment on the allegations.

Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.