Harrisburg City Councilwoman Sandra Reid and Police Chief Thomas Carter at a May press conference in city hall.
Harrisburg City Councilwoman Sandra Reid has been charged with disorderly conduct following her arrest last week outside a city gas station, the Dauphin County district attorney’s office said Thursday.
Reid, 45, “unnecessarily inserted herself in an active arrest and ignored numerous requests to allow the police to continue their work at the scene of the arrest without interference,” according to the release.
The district attorney’s office has been reviewing possible charges since last week, including a misdemeanor charge of obstructing the administration of law, which a Harrisburg police log listed as the reason for Reid’s arrest.
Upon completing a review of the incident, however, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said he determined her actions only warranted the lesser charge of disorderly conduct, a summary offense.
The obstruction charge would have required “proof of force, violence or similar unlawful act” and there was no evidence of such actions in the case, Marsico said.
The review of the incident incorporated surveillance footage from the gas station, City Gas & Diesel in the 1500-block of State Street, and video footage from police patrol cars, as well as descriptions from the officers involved.
It did not include statements from Reid, store employees or the man with whose arrest Reid allegedly interfered, according to First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo.
The footage was video only, and did not contain audio, Chardo said.
According to the release, police officers had arrested and were detaining a man who had been involved in an incident inside the convenience store at the station, allegedly preventing a woman from leaving, when Reid arrived in her car.
The man, Alain Ebele Dejin, 29, had no connection to Reid, Marsico said. He was charged Thursday morning with making terroristic threats, false imprisonment, defiant trespassing and harassment.
As she pulled up, Reid’s headlights “shone into the face of the arrestee,” Marsico said. Police asked Reid to turn off her lights, which she did “after a few requests.” She then “turned them back on, before finally turning them off again.”
Reid then allegedly asked the officers to move Ebele Dejin into the store, “presumably on account of the cold.” The release notes that the temperature at the time was 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and that Ebele Dejin “seemed comfortable and was cooperative with the two officers there.”
During her interaction with police, Reid allegedly demanded the name and badge number of one of the officers and “repeatedly berated” the police.
Reid “ignored numerous requests from the police to stop interfering” with Ebele Dejin’s arrest, Marsico said. After she was arrested, he said, she told police she was a member of city council and “indicated an intention to call the chief of police.”
The incident began late in the evening on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Both Reid and Ebele Dejin were arrested and released sometime after midnight on the morning of Nov. 26.
The police log and Ebele Dejin’s criminal docket list the arresting officer as Jeffrey Clark, a Harrisburg policeman. The district attorney’s description does not indicate whether Clark or another officer provided a name and badge number to Reid, nor does it identify Clark or any other officers involved.
Asked whether Reid was within her rights to ask for a name and badge number, Chardo said it depended on whether doing so interfered with an ongoing arrest. “It’s a matter of context,” he said.
Chardo also said the district attorney’s office would not be releasing the video footage, because he did not believe they were permitted to. If the charges against Reid go to trial, however, he said they would likely become an exhibit and would therefore be a public document.
Marsico also said in his release Thursday that his review included reading a report of a prior incident in which Reid allegedly interfered with a police investigation.
During that incident, which occurred on August 27 near the councilwoman’s home on Liberty Street, Reid is alleged to have confronted an officer whose police vehicle was parked on the street with its lights flashing.
Reid allegedly “ordered the officer to move his car,” Marsico said. When the officer told her he was investigating a car theft, Reid allegedly threatened to call the police chief and asked for his name and badge number.
She subsequently let the officer continue his investigation, upon learning from him that her neighbor’s car had been stolen, according to the release.
Late in the day Thursday, Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s spokeswoman sent out a press release that included a comment from Papenfuse on Reid’s arrest, which he called a “most unfortunate incident that escalated too quickly.”
The comment came at the end of an announcement for a planned series to air on WHBG Channel 20, in which the mayor will host discussions with various guests about easing tension between law enforcement and minority communities. The series is expected to begin this month and continue through next year.
Reid, who is one of seven members of Harrisburg’s City Council, took office in January 2012 and chairs the public works committee.
Prior to Thursday’s announcement of charges, Reid had told reporters she was waiting to make a statement until the district attorney had made a decision.
Asked about a statement Thursday afternoon, she wrote in a text message that she had no comment.
This story has been updated with comments from Mayor Eric Papenfuse.
