NEW YORK (AP) – Supermodel Naomi Campbell was charged with assault for throwing her cell phone at a housekeeper after accusing her of stealing clothes when she couldn’t find a pair of jeans she wanted to wear on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, prosecutors said.

She was released on her own recognizance and allowed to keep her passport after her lawyer argued that her famous face would prevent her from fleeing.

“She is probably the most recognized and prominent model in the world,” defense attorney David Breitbart told a judge Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court. “There is no place she could go and not be recognized.”

Campbell, wearing a white fur poncho, was arraigned on a charge of second-degree assault before Judge Richard Weinberg, who allowed Breitbart to enter a plea of not guilty on her behalf.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Campbell called the allegation that she hit or injured her housekeeper “completely untrue.”

“She is sadly mistaken if she thinks she can extract money from me by concocting lies by recycling old stories,” the supermodel said. “I have asked my lawyer to look into filing both theft and extortion charges against her.”

Campbell said she had questioned the housekeeper, Ana Scolavino, about missing items since she started working for the model more than two months ago.

Campbell said she fired the housekeeper “for that and her erratic behavior.”

The housekeeper was treated at a hospital for a cut that required four staples, said Assistant District Attorney Elina Kreditor, who asked the judge to set bail at $3,500 and to order Campbell, who is British, to surrender her passport.

In her statement, Campbell said she had “no idea” how the housekeeper was injured.

Breitbart called the request for $3,500 bail “an insult,” saying his client’s Park Avenue apartment is worth more than $3 million and she earns “more than six figures on a regular basis.”

He said Campbell needed her passport for a trip to South Africa next week to visit Nelson Mandela. He asked the judge for orders to keep the housekeeper away from Campbell’s apartment.

The judge said Scolavino would have to give up her key to the apartment and issued an order of protection against Campbell, telling her she could have no contact with the employee. He scheduled her next court appearance for June 27.

This was not the first time the volatile Campbell, 35, was accused of reaching out and touching someone with a phone. In 2003, the supermodel was sued by a former administrative assistant who said Campbell had thrown a phone at her during a tantrum two years earlier.

In August 2004, in the same apartment, Campbell and her maid battled it out, with the worker claiming the supermodel slapped her across the face. Campbell accused maid Millicent Burton of instigating the fight.

The assault took place at about 8:30 a.m. inside Campbell’s apartment, according to a criminal complaint. The housekeeper was hit in the back of the head and was treated at Lenox Hill Hospital, it said.

A woman who answered the after-hours media relations number at the hospital said no one was available to comment and that she could not provide any information on Scolavino.

Campbell was taken into custody shortly after police responded to the hospital to investigate the reported attack.

Facing a familiar sea of cameras as she left a Manhattan police station, Campbell smiled but never stopped to pose.

She exited the station shortly after 4 p.m. in a scene that was part runway, part perp walk. Scores of photographers, reporters and film crews gathered to record her exit after she was charged with assault; she responded by flashing a quick smile.

Campbell was discovered at age 15 and launched a career that landed her in magazines worldwide – including the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Campbell’s high-profile lifestyle has included appearances in music videos by George Michael and Jay-Z and a close friendship with Mandela.

The international modeling sensation has appeared in several films and dabbled in a musical career.

The mercurial Campbell has a reputation for angry outbursts and abusive behavior. She pleaded guilty in Toronto to an assault charge for beating another assistant while making a film in Canada in 1998.

She also battled a cocaine addiction before getting straight several years ago.