Strauss-Kahn, a key player in the world's response to the 2007-09 financial meltdown and in Europe's ongoing debt crisis,was removed from an Air France plane minutes before it was to take off for Paris from John F Kennedy International Airport on Saturday, New York police spokesman Paul Browne said.
Browne said Strauss-Kahn was formally arrested at 2:15 am (0615 GMT) on Sunday on charges of criminal sexual act,attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment.
A lawyer representing Strauss-Kahn, Benjamin Brafman, told Reuters in an email that the International Monetary Fund chief "will plead not guilty." Brafman made no further comment.
A 32-year-old maid filed a sexual assault complaint after fleeing the $3,000-a-night hotel suite at the Sofitel in TimesSquare where the alleged incident occurred around 1 pm (1700GMT) on Saturday, Browne said.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, who has been considered a possible Socialist Party candidate in the French presidential election in April and May 2012, appeared to have fled the hotel after the incident, the police spokesman said.
Browne told Reuters an account of events which led to the state charges against Strauss-Kahn.
"She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her, according to her account."
"She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives. He tried to lock her into the hotel room," Browne added.
Browne said Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity. He is expected to be brought before state court on Sunday.
According to New York state law, a criminal sexual act includes forcibly compelling someone to engage in oral sex. The offence carries a potential sentence of 15-20 years, the same as attempted rape.
Unlawful imprisonment carries a potential sentence of three to five years.
Impact on IMF
The allegation will be a major worldwide embarrassment tothe IMF, which has authorised billions of dollars in lending programs to troubled countries and has played a major role inthe euro zone debt crisis.
It follows the announcement on Thursday the IMF's No 2 official, John Lipsky, plans to step down in August when histerm ends.
The IMF managing director has yet to say whether he willrun for president, although French opinion polls put him as aclear winner over conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy if thetwo faced off in an election.
"The NYPD realised he had fled, he had left his cell phone behind," Browne said.
"We learned he was on an Air France plane. They held the plane and he was taken off and is now being held in police custody for questioning."
After being removed from the aircraft's first-class section, he was taken to the police department's Special Victims Unit in Manhattan, known to viewers of a hit US television show based on its work.
The woman, who has not been named, "was brought by EMS (emergency medical services) to the Roosevelt Hospital, whereshe was treated for minor injuries," Browne said.
Strauss-Kahn was on his way to Europe for a meeting on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss theEuropean debt crisis and then was to attend a euro zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday.
Strauss-Kahn took over the IMF in November 2007 for afive-year term scheduled to end next year.
Before that, he was a French finance minister, member ofthe French National Assembly and a professor of economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.
The IMF declined to comment and IMF board officials told Reuters they had not been informed officially of the incident.
Past controversy
Strauss-Kahn has faced controversy before. In October 2008, he apologised for "an error of judgment" for an affair with afemale IMF economist who was his subordinate.
An inquiry cleared him of harassment and abuse of power, although he was warned by the fund's board of member countries against furtherimproper conduct.
Strauss-Kahn apologised to the woman, Piroska Nagy, and his wife, French television personality Anne Sinclair, as well as to IMF employees for the trouble he had caused.
Since taking over the IMF, he has won plaudits for putting the fund, the world's main overseer of the global economic system, at the center of global efforts to cope with the financial meltdown of 2007-09.
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