Woman sues after overdue 'Twilight' arrest

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PORTALES, N.M., June 28 (UPI) -- A New Mexico woman is suing her city after she spent the night in jail as a result of an overdue "Twilight" book and DVD from the library.

Lori Teel, whose attorney sent a tort claim notice to the Portales city clerk Monday, said police officers visiting her home on a report of a disturbance June 12 arrested her in front of her five children, ages 1 to 10, and she spent the night at the Roosevelt County Detention Center while her children stayed with a neighbor, the Albuquerque Journal reported Thursday.

"My kids are still very emotional," Teel said. "They had to stay with a complete stranger. My 3-year-old is traumatized over it. She will not leave my side."

Eric Dixon, Teel's attorney, said the Portales Public Library showed his client had not returned Stephenie Meyer's novel, "Twilight," and a DVD copy of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" despite an Oct. 5, 2010, due date. He said his client was ordered to appear in court, but the notices were sent to a children's home where Teel lived when she was young.

"Ms. Teel and her small children have been traumatized, humiliated, embarrassed, subject to ridicule, and otherwise suffered pain and suffering and other damages as a result of the wrongful arrest," Dixon wrote in the tort claim.