Country singer McCready released on bail

FORT MYERS, Fla., July 23 (UPI) -- Country singer Mindy McCready claimed police in Florida used excessive force when they arrested her and officials said she resisted arrest.

McCready was free on bail after being charged with domestic battery and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, The Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press Monday.

"It's been a nightmare," McCready said Sunday.

The 31-year-old singer had returned sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning to her mother's home from a Fort Myers, Fla., restaurant and was intoxicated, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Larry King told the News-Press. McCready said the family was playing a board game when a family discussion escalated.

"She began fighting with her mom and, at some point, she scratched her across the face," King said.

The singer said in the newspaper account that she told authorities they weren't needed and that deputies escalated what was a family argument by taking it out of context.

King said that when deputies arrived, McCready was out of control and wouldn't let them handcuff her, the News-Press said.