Sgt. Kaylie Coats, an active-duty Marine, says she was wrongfully arrested and held after the Clive Police Department issued a warrant in her name for a crime she did not commit.

The 23-year-old spent about five hours in custody on Dec. 7, arrested on a warrant for fifth-degree theft, before her mother could bail her out of jail. She pleaded not guilty to the simple misdemeanor the following day in front of a judge.

Coats' record was eventually expunged — but only after she could prove to the judge and a Polk County prosecutor that she was stationed in California at the time the crime in question was committed.

"I felt violated because I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. I felt like a criminal," she said. "Once I got put in the holding cell with other people, it worried me. I had no idea what other people had been in there for."

Clive Police Chief Michael Venema declined to comment at the advice of the city's attorneys because of possible litigation.

Coats, who is stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, was home in Waukee on emergency medical leave this month to help her stepmother recover from surgery.

Their neighbor, a Dallas County sheriff's deputy, knocked on the door that afternoon with an active warrant for Coats' arrest. The warrant listed Coats' name and Social Security number.

She was accused of ditching a $45 cab ride in 2015.

Coats was placed in the deputy's car and driven to the Polk County line, where she waited for 45 minutes for the Clive Police Department to pick her up. A Clive officer placed her in handcuffs and transported her to the Polk County Jail, where she was searched and fingerprinted.

"I was confused. I thought maybe somebody used my name or something," Coats said. "I was stressed out and embarrassed because people were driving by as I was getting in the back of a cop car."

Her mother, Juli Jarecki, had followed from home and waited in the lobby of the jail for about three hours before she was given instructions to bail her daughter out. It was either pay $300 cash, which she didn't have, or a $65 non-refundable bail bond.

She purchased the bail bond because she wanted her out of jail as soon as possible, Jarecki said. Coats was ordered to appear in court the next day, where she could plead guilty and pay a fine of up to $1,000 or plead not guilty and go to trial in February.

"I told her I wanted to plead not guilty, and at that point (the judge) kinda knew something was off," Coats said. "I told her, 'Your honor, I wasn't even in the state when this crime was committed.'"

She explained to the judge that she is an active-duty Marine and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California at the time. "She was astonished at that point," Coats said.

The judge ordered a phone call with the prosecutor so the issue could be resolved. A few hours later, Venema, the police chief, left Coats a voicemail explaining that the warrant had been issued in error, she said. He didn't provide any other details, she said.

"He had given me an apology and asked what he could do, but at that point you can't give me back time that was already lost, and that was the most important thing for me," Coats said.

Soon after, Coats had to report the arrest and court appearance to her command staff at Fort Leonard Wood. She said Venema was willing to send an email explaining the situation so she would not face military repercussions.

Though there was no punishment through the Marines, Coats is left wondering how the mistake was made. The Clive Police Department has not yet told Coats or her attorney, Andrew Heiting-Doane, what happened.

They believe the warrant for her arrest was triggered because she had applied for a permit to carry weapons the day before. But, they don't know whom the warrant was actually intended for or why her name and Social Security number were used.

"It worries me that it could happen to anybody who might not be able to prove themselves innocent. It worries me that I even had to prove myself innocent because I don't feel that I should ever have to," she said. "And it worries me about my future. I feel like this is going to jeopardize an opportunity down the road that I might have."

The Dallas County Sheriff's Office has denied her permit to carry weapons because a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Now, Coats will be forced to disclose that she has been arrested and denied a conceal and carry permit. She is considering a job in federal law enforcement, in which most applications ask those questions with little or no chance to follow up.

"She's concerned about federal law enforcement polygraph tests where she has to answer 'yes' and then explain what happened," Heiting-Doane said. "If they have 50 qualified candidates and one of them says something that you have to track down and follow up on and the other 49 you don't, then she's out as a candidate."

Coats said she wants to ensure there are checks and balances in place so this won't happen again at the Clive Police Department.

"There should have been safeguards in place to make sure a clerical error doesn't get someone arrested and locked in jail," Heiting-Doane said. "We are concerned that if we don't take action, this will happen again, and next time it might happen to someone who can't stand up for himself or herself."