Mother Arrested For Allowing Children To Play Outside

INSIDE EDITION talks to a mother who was arrested for allowing her kids to play with their scooters in the cul-de-sac in front of their house.

How in the world could this have happened?

"Me, arrested for allowing my children to play outside," Tammy Cooper is talking about the most humiliating and terrifying day of her life.  

That's right. Police arrested stay-at-home mom Cooper after she allowed her two kids to ride scooters on the street outside her house.

The neightbor across the street called 911 and reported that the mother was neglecting her children. Suddenly, police arrived, handcuffed Cooper, placed her under arrest, put her in an orange jumpsuit and locked her in a jail cell for 18 hours.

So who is the neighbor who called the police?

INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander asked the neighbor's son, "Do you know why your mom called 911 that day? Does she have something against her neighbor?" But he didn't want to talk to us.

Within minutes of our crew's arrival, cops from the Houston suburb of La Porte showed up. But they didn't want to talk either.

Cooper said bad blood has been brewing ever since she asked her neighbor to clean up after her dog.

"I asked her if she could please come and clean up her dog's leavings. And so she did agree to clean it up. I though that was the end of it," Cooper said.

Alexander asked, "Do you think this is revenge?"

"Yes, I do think this is revenge," said Cooper.

But, she says she was watching her children the whole time from a chair in her driveway.

"My daughter was hysterical. She had her arms wrapped around the police officer's leg screaming, 'Please don't take my mother to jail.' It was beyond a nightmare."

The charges were dropped. But Mrs. Cooper says she still plans to sue the police department. Meantime, INSIDE EDITION received a statement from city officials who told us after all the evidence is reviewed they are confident that all claims against the city and the officer will be dismissed.