DETROIT – A Pittsburgh official who was charged in connection with an altercation with Detroit police officers at a hotel in March 2019 has pleaded no contest to a disturbing the peace charge.
Pittsburgh controller Chelsa Wagner, 42, was sentenced Thursday to six months of non-reporting probation. She is ordered to pay $600 in court costs and $53 to the Crime Victim’s Fund. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said this is a plea under advisement, which means that when Wagner completes the probation the court can dismiss the case.
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What happened
Wagner and her husband, Khari Mosley, originally were charged after the altercation March 6, 2019 at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Downtown Detroit. Detroit police said officers were called to the hotel at 12:17 a.m. Mosley was at the reception desk in the elevator area and entryway of the hotel. Mosely was angry that hotel workers wouldn’t let him up to his room, which was registered in his wife’s name, police said. Mosely didn’t have a room key, officials said.
The hotel manager called the room and nobody answered the phone, according to police. When officers arrived, Mosely was allegedly gesturing and speaking loudly in a confrontational manner to hotel staff members.
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Police went to the room belonging to his wife and she confirmed that Mosley was her husband, according to authorities. Mosely calmed down and was allowed into the room by police, officials said.
While police were leaving, they heard a loud noise and shouting coming from the room and returned to investigate, authorities said. Wagner was told that hotel security members requested Mosely leave, but she could stay in the room, police said. When an officer tried to remove Mosley, Wagner prevented the officer from taking action by putting her arm on the office and pushing his hand away when he tried to remove her arm, according to authorities.
Mosely was put in handcuffs, but when officials walked him to the elevator, Wagner blocked the elevator door, police said. Officers said she was asked to move several times but continued to block the door.
Wagner was accused of grabbing and pushing the officer, so he used his arm to move her during the assault, causing her to fall to the floor, according to authorities. Wagner was arrested for assaulting the officer, police said. When she was being handcuffed, Wagner resisted arrest and was uncooperative, police said. She was taken to the Detroit Detention Center.
Mosely was not arrested because he was no longer causing a disturbance. He was allowed to go to a nearby hotel, police said.
“The officers involved in this case used remarkable restraint while dealing with the combined actions of these defendants,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “The evidence will show that during the incident Ms. Wagner and Mr. Mosley disparaged the officers and the hotel employees.”
Wagner was charged with two counts of resisting and obstructing police, a felony with a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days behind bars.
Mosley was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and one count of disturbing the peace. Both charges are misdemeanors with maximum penalties of 90 days behind bars.
Court cases
Both Wagner and Mosley had maintained they were the victims of hotel staff and police who acted improperly. Wagner said she was confident she would be cleared in the case. Mosley was acquitted in July of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace counts.
Wagner, meanwhile, had a jury trial that began Nov. 12 before Judge Dalton Roberson and concluded on Nov. 20. Wagner was found not guilty of the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. A mistrial was declared on the felony count of resisting and obstructing the police.
On Thursday, a pretrial conference for the remaining felony count of resisting and obstructing the police was held before Judge Regina Thomas in Third Judicial Circuit Court. Wagner pleaded no contest to one count of disturbing the peace (disturbing meetings), a 90-day misdemeanor, and received her probation sentencing.