Pretenders singer/guitarist Chrissie Hynde was arraigned on criminal mischief charges Friday (March 10), following her arrest Thursday for allegedly ripping up leather jackets during an animal-rights demonstration at a New York Gap store.

Hynde and three other supporters of the animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals allegedly destroyed store merchandise and tore clothing off mannequins to protest what they said was the Gap's use of leather from abused and illegally slaughtered cows in India. The three other protesters, one of whom was PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, also were arrested.

Gap spokesperson Alan Marks said the company is investigating how factories obtain their material and said little of the leather used for the store's products comes from India.

Hynde was released Friday morning and is scheduled to appear April 20 in Manhattan Criminal Court. The singer faces up to a $1,000 fine and one year in prison if convicted, according to Sarah Frank, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney.

A police spokesperson had said on Thursday that Hynde was charged with criminal mischief in the first degree, but Friday the charges were listed officially as fourth degree. Frank said the district attorney sometimes lowers charges after reviewing the case and the suspect's prior record.

Thursday's incident was an escalation of PETA's prior attempts to urge the Gap to "re-source their leather to a more ethical standard," said Kim Krier, PETA's anti-leather campaign coordinator. Krier said demonstrators did not enter the Gap intending to destroy merchandise but to "get people in their homes for one minute to think about where leather shoes come from, where leather jackets come from." She said she felt their efforts were successful.

PETA's current anti-leather campaign has followed a similar route as the Pretenders' North American tour so that Hynde could participate in the organization's press conferences and demonstrations in several major cities, including Toronto, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The Pretenders will play New York's Roseland Ballroom on Friday. It is one of three dates left on their outing in support of Viva el Amor! (1999), which features "Who's Who" (RealAudio excerpt).

PETA, which has met with Gap officials, claims the company's leather jackets featuring "Made in India" labels are probably made from black-market skins of cruelly and illegally slaughtered cows in India.

Marks said the labels do not necessarily mean the leather is from India and that the company's finished goods come from apparel factories. He said the Gap has been looking into how the factories get their material and have determined that less than 10 percent of the leather used for the company's products comes from India. "I think it would be inaccurate to assume that [the leather obtained from India] is from the black market," he said. The company said it is continuing its investigation.

Krier said PETA will continue to fight until the Gap and other clothing companies say that none of their leather comes from the skins of Indian cows.

"We of course believe that animals are not ours to wear in any form. However, we're starting with the greatest tragedy that is happening right now within the leather trade," she said.

Fiona Apple, Paul McCartney, Sarah McLachlan and Grace Slick are among PETA's other musician supporters.