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The Philadelphia district attorney’s office is investigating after the arrest of Philadelphia city official, Celena Morrison, and her husband.
Morrison, Philadelphia’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, was arrested with Darius McLean during a traffic stop Saturday morning, according to police records.
The arrest was captured on video recorded by Morrison, and in it, McLean could be seen on the ground on the shoulder of roadway with an officer standing over him.
“Do you wanna get Tased? Put your hands behind your back!” an officer is heard saying.
“Ok! They are!” McLean responds.
“That’s my husband! That’s my husband, please!” Morrison, who is off camera, can be heard saying.
“I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor,” Morrison says to the officer after telling her husband not to worry.
“It’s cause I’m Black,” McLean says. The officer refuted this during the video before turning toward Morrison.
“Turn around,” the officer tells Morrisson.
In what appears to be a scuffle of some sort, the camera ends up on the ground.
“Give me your hands, or you’re getting Tased!” the officer can be heard saying, as screams can be heard in the background.
“Don’t worry. I don’t know why this is happening,” Morrison tells her husband off camera. “Stay calm, we ain’t done nothing wrong.”
Morrison then says the officer punched her. “Why are you so aggressive?” Morrison asks the officer.
Toward the end of the video, the officer yells at McLean, instructing him not to reach for anything.
“I need my glasses!” he responds.
NBC News does not know what happened prior to the recording of the video.
According to a police report, a Pennsylvania State trooper pulled over a gray Infiniti sedan on Interstate 76 at 9:09 a.m. “after multiple vehicle code violations were observed.”
No additional details are given about the alleged violations.
“Prior to the trooper making contact with the operator of the Infiniti, a green Dodge sedan arrived at the location of the traffic stop and parked behind the trooper’s patrol vehicle,” according to the police report. “The trooper approached the Dodge and the operator of the vehicle became verbally combative toward the trooper.”
The driver of the Dodge “refused multiple lawful orders,” so the trooper attempted to arrest the driver, who resisted arrest, per the police report. The driver of the Infiniti allegedly interfered with the trooper’s arrest attempt.
Both individuals, identified as Morrison and McLean, were arrested and accused of “resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and other related charges,” according to the police report.
Morrison did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mclean could not be reached.
Pennsylvania State Police is investigating the incident, and the trooper will not be on patrol while the investigation is ongoing, spokesperson Adam Reed told NBC News.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office is also investigating the arrests and has asked anyone with information on the incident to reach out.
“The district attorney’s office has made no charging decision pending a thorough, even-handed investigation,” the office said in a statement, adding that it has no further comment at this time.
In a statement issued Saturday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said that the video “is very concerning” and that she would have “no further comment until the investigation has been completed.”
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