LONDON – Supermodel Naomi Campbell was arrested Thursday at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 for allegedly spitting at a police officer, Sky News television reported.
She was released on bail Friday. London's Metropolitan Police said she was released pending further inquiries and told to report to a police station in late May.
The 37-year-old British model, known for her fiery temper, was handcuffed on board a British Airways flight to Los Angeles and led off the plane by police, according to Sky News.
Campbell's publicist, Selina Aponte, left Heathrow's police station, where the model had been taken, just before 10 p.m. but told waiting reporters she had not seen the British model, who had been due to fly to Los Angeles.
"We have all seen the reports but I don't know anything," Aponte said. "Naomi was flying to L.A. She has family and friends over there and is always going over."
Campbell's publicist in Los Angeles, Jeff Raymond, wrote in an e-mail that Campbell was flying to Los Angeles for a Thursday memorial service. He said she checked two bags in at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 with plenty of time to spare and was told they would make the flight. He said once on the plane, however, Campbell was told one of her bags was missing.
Raymond said British Airways decided to resolve the situation by insisting Campbell leave the flight, and then called police to forcibly eject her from the airplane.
"So far as we are aware B.A. have still failed to offer any explanation as to why her bag went missing at Terminal 5," Raymond wrote.
She was photographed leaving the police station, but it was not clear if she was charged with anything.
A Scotland Yard spokesman told Sky News: "At 5:11 we were alerted to a disturbance at Terminal 5 where officers attended.
Naomi Campbell: Timeline of Bad Behavior
"Subsequently a 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and taken to Heathrow police station."
An airport spokesperson told Sky News: "I can confirm that a passenger on board a British Airways flight was removed by police."
Passengers said that Campbell was aggressive and abusive to staff, Sky News reported.
Campbell caused a huge disturbance when one of her three carry-on bags was missing, the Sun reported.
After she was pulled off the plane, cops had to be called because the supermodel flew into a rage when she was told she was unfit to fly, the Sun reported.
Campbell was taken away "ranting and raving" from BA's first class lounge after allegedly assaulting an officer.
Witnesses say they heard the model scream "get off me, leave me alone" as she was taken to the Heathrow police station.
The arrest would be far from Campbell's first brush with the law.
In August 2007, a judge allowed a lawsuit by former Campbell maid Gaby Gibson to proceed, and ruled the supermodel's stormy past can potentially be used against her.
Gibson said the fashion plate verbally abused her on a number of occasions and then physically attacked her in January 2006. The Romanian immigrant said Campbell had become furious when she couldn't find a pair of Stella McCartney jeans.
"I've had it with you, f—-ing b—ch," the lawsuit quotes Campbell as saying before she allegedly punched or kicked at the back of Gibson's head.
In June 2007, Campbell settled a lawsuit with a former employee who claimed she abused her verbally and physically on three continents.
Amanda Brack, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., sued Campbell in July 2006 for unspecified money damages, accusing her of assault, battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress. Brack's papers said the abusive incidents started a month after she began working for Campbell in February 2005.
In March 2007, the catwalker was released from a garbage truck garage in Manhattan after completing five days of community service for assaulting her maid.
The model pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for throwing a phone at her maid over a missing pair of jeans.
Her maid, Ana Scolavino, required four stitches to her head, since the phone apparently was crystal-encrusted. Campbell said it was an accident because she did not intend to hit her.
In an agreement negotiated with prosecutors, a Manhattan Criminal Court judge sentenced Campbell to the five days of community service, to take anger management classes and to pay $363.32 in restitution to Scolavino, as well as covering her hospital bills.
The Associated Press and the New York Post contributed to this report.
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