Mindy McCready Charged With Battery, Resisting Arrest

Police responded to a call placed by McCready’s mother, Melody Inge, on Saturday morning shortly before 1:00 AM, according to a police report. Inge alleged that McCready, 31, was intoxicated and causing a disturbance. According to the report filed with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy met with Inge upon arrival at the scene. Inge said that McCready had been drinking while out at dinner, and had become “increasingly belligerent, screaming and yelling.” Upon returning home, Inge said that McCready became violent and attacked her.

The deputy observed in the report that there were “noticeable scratch marks on [Inge’s] right facial cheek.” When questioned, McCready denied attacking her mother, saying that Inge was “crazy’ and that she had inflicted the scratches on herself. The deputy noted that the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanated from McCready’s facial region, and that she was verbally abusive throughout the investigation. After advising McCready that she was being placed under arrest for Domestic Battery, the deputy attempted to handcuff her, but was forced to take her to the ground when she allegedly resisted. The report notes that McCready sustained a “minor cut on her nose as she continued to struggle and resist arrest.” The cut can be seen in McCready’s booking photo (pictured).McCready told the News-Press of Fort Myers that deputies used excessive force in the arrest. “I was holding my baby at the time,” McCready reportedly said in regard to her 15-month-old son. “They tackled me. They didn’t give any directions. They just tackled. There was no reason for it. To take down a woman holding a baby, it’s just not right.” In response to McCready’s claim, Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry King told the Associated Press that a deputy took McCready’s baby and another wrestled McCready to the ground. Capt. Tom Eberhardt said McCready also caused a disturbance in the jail and was subdued with pepper spray. McCready (real name Melinda Gayle McCready) was freed on $1,000 bond on Saturday. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 14.The singer had a # 1 hit in 1996 with “Guys Do It All the Time,” and has since been in the spotlight for other reasons.McCready was convicted in 2004 for fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers, and was charged with DUI while she was on probation for that offense in 2005. She was found not guilty of the DUI charge, but was still found guilty of driving on a suspended license. She pleaded guilty to violating her probation, but has since petitioned to withdraw that plea, with a Circuit Court hearing on the charge scheduled for September 7 in Williamson County, TN. McCready’s attorney, Lee Dryer, didn’t answer calls made by The AP on Monday, though information from the Williamson County Court Clerk showed Dryer had withdrawn as her lawyer.