Natalie McDaniel, the wife of Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Seren, was arraigned in court on Tuesday after accusations of walking into a home uninvited.
According to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records, McDaniel was indicted on the following charges: Trespass into a habitation when a person is present, a fourth-degree felony; and criminal trespass, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
Her bond has been set at $2,500, and she was ordered not to contact the victim.
She pleaded not guilty.
Her attorney, David Betras, held a press conference after her arraignment:
Betras said McDaniel was unaware that anyone was living at the house when she entered.
"She was in the house all of seconds," Betras said.
He also believes the Cleveland Heights Police Department should have handed the case over to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office due to a conflict of interest.
"There is no need for that by this police department who is in the middle and has an acromonious relationship with the mayor's wife," Betras said.
The allegation
According to a police report, surveillance video shows McDaniel could be seen walking onto the home's front lawn, where she knelt down next to a sign calling for her husband's recall and snapped a photo of it.
The report states that McDaniel then looks at the house before standing up and walking onto the front porch.
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The police report states there is a 17-second gap between when McDaniel stepped into the home and when she is seen later leaving.
McDaniel was not arrested, but she was detained for at least two hours before being released at the scene, according to Seren.
DNA was collected at the scene, and McDaniel's phone was confiscated as evidence.
Seren claims his wife knocked on the door while on her routine walk through the neighborhood, to get contact information for the contractors working on the property.
