BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhuanet)-- Super model Naomi Campbell was charged with second-degree assault by the Manhattan Criminal Court Friday after allegedly bashing her 41-year-old housekeeper in the head with a cell phone.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell leaves the Manhattan Criminal Court after being arraigned on assault charges in New York March 30, 2006. [China Daily/Reuters]

    The assault occurred about 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Campbell's apartment on Park Avenue, the police said. Campbell accused her housekeeper, Ana Scolavino, of stealing clothes when she couldn't find a pair of jeans she wanted to wear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

    As the housekeeper was walking down the stairs, Naomi threw a cellphone at the back of her head. She was then taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she received four staples for a gash, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office.

    Campbell, 35, was taken to the station house, and more than 100 reporters, photographers and television camera operators quickly gathered outside. Campbell left the station just after 4 p.m.

    It was not the first time Campbell had been accused of injuring an employee with a telephone. In 1998, she was arrested by the police in Toronto and charged with assaulting an assistant. Her lawyer in that case said the accusation was false and had been made by a disgruntled employee who was about to be fired.

    Campbell pleaded guilty in 2000 in that case, and her record was cleared in exchange for her expressing remorse, under an agreement with the prosecution.

    Campbell, who faces a possible seven years in jail after being charged with assault by the court, said that Scolavino making up the story to extract money from her. Her next court appearance was scheduled for June 27. Enditem

    (Agencies)