Officers could seek charges against Allegheny Co. official following hotel incident, police say

DETROIT, MI. — A high-ranking Allegheny County official was detained in Michigan on Tuesday night.

Chelsa Wagner, the Allegheny County Controller, was involved in an altercation in a hotel hallway.

Wagner and her husband were in Detroit attending a concert.

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Attorney Heather Heidelbaugh represents Wagner and told Channel 11's Rick Earle that when Wagner went to bed, her husband was not in the room. He later tried to get into the room, but because he did not have a key and his name wasn't on the room he was detained by security.

Hotel security then called police, who handcuffed Wagner's husband and brought him to the room, where they told Wagner he was trying to get in.

Wagner, according to her attorney, became upset and was involved in some type of scuffle with an officer, during which she ended up on the ground and injured her wrist.

“Clearly, she was the victim of a security system at a hotel that went haywire and police officers that did not act appropriately,” Heidelbaugh said.

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Detroit Police Chief James Craig told the Detroit News that body cam footage from an officer shows a different situation.

"The officers were being very polite, saying 'ma'am, please.' At some point she decided to grab the officer, and he pushed her off him. She started to fall, and the officer tried to grab her to break her fall, because he didn't want her to be injured," Craig said.

She was taken into custody and spent the night in jail. Neither Wagner or her husband are facing charges at this point.

Wagner is running for a third term as Allegheny County Controller.

The Detroit Police Chief told the Detroit News he expects his officers to seek assault and battery charges against Wagner.

Cox Media Group