Illinois State Sen. Suzi Schmidt was arrested Tuesday following a dispute with her neighbor, officials said.
The Lake Villa Republican was arrested at about 5:15 p.m. after she "damaged her neighbor’s animal’s feed bag," according to a warrant issued by the Lake County Sheriff's Department.
She was taken into custody at Menards home improvement store, in the 6600 block of Grand Avenue, in Gurnee, officials said. Officials served her with an "emergency stalking no contact order," which orders to have no contact with that neighbor, officials said.
Schmidt was charged with one count of criminal damage to property and one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to property, authorities said. Her bail was set at $5,000 and she bonded out shortly after 7 p.m., officials said.
Officials said Schmidt ripped up a bag of either deer or bird food during an argument with her neighbor, then spread the feed around the neighbor's yard. She caused less than $300 of damage, officers say.
Schmidt made news last year when 911 tapes were released of her using her job title to try and persuade police to ignore her husband's domestic disturbance calls.
"I'm having a little problem with my husband right now," she was heard saying on the tape. "But it’s fine, so if he calls you, you can ignore him."
Despite pressure to resign from office after the allegations against her, the senator stayed on, but later decided not to seek re-election.
The Chicago Tribune attempted to reach that same husband on Tuesday night, but he reportedly declined to comment, saying only that the couple was going through a divorce.
