A University of Iowa staff member suing the former dean of the College of Law was arrested Monday night and charged with OWI.

Teresa Wagner, 48, was charged Monday.

Iowa City police officials responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle on Garden Street. Wagner was located inside a running Silver Dodge Caravan with the lights on. There was smoke coming out of the muffler of Wagner’s vehicle, and police officials found the ignition was in the on position, the police complaint said.

When police officials made contact with Wagner, an odor of alcohol came from the vehicle.

Wagner had bloodshot eyes and had confused speech, police said. She stated her husband had upset her and she drove away from her driveway so her children wouldn’t see her upset. Wagner admitted to consuming alcohol earlier in the night, the complaint said. When officers turned off the car, Wagner attempted to get back into her vehicle, claiming she was going to drive home.

OWI is a serious misdemeanor.

Wagner, a part-time employee at the law school’s writing resource center, was denied full-time employment at the UI in 2006. She filed a lawsuit against former Dean Carolyn Jones in January 2009, claiming that she was not hired because of her conservative political beliefs and past work for conservative organizations.

A trial took place in Davenport in October 2012 but ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether Wagner was denied equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

She filed for a new trial against Jones in November 2012.