Pennsylvania police officer who arrested a couple during a traffic stop on I-76 no longer works for PSP

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Pennsylvania state trooper is involved in one Traffic stop on Interstate 76 that attracted widespread attention on social media is no longer employed by the Pennsylvania State Police, the agency confirmed Friday.

The former state trooper, who has yet to be identified by state police, was previously placed on restricted duty while a traffic stop investigation was underway in early March, the agency told CBS News Philadelphia two months ago.

On Saturday, March 2, the police officer pulled over Celena Morrison-McLean, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, on I-76, citing multiple “vehicle code violations.”

At the time of stop Morrison-McLean was pursued by her husband, Darius McLean. According to the couple’s attorneys, the couple was in a separate car because the couple had just picked up a vehicle from a family member in New Jersey.

Morrison-McLean said in a news conference the following week that she believed race played a role in the traffic stop.

“Yeah, I think it’s because I’m Black,” Morrison-McLean said.

State police said the trooper first approached McLean, who allegedly reared up behind the trooper after his wife was pulled over.

In a police report, the officer said McLean became verbally combative with him, but the couple’s attorney, Kevin Mincey, said in a news conference that the officer was the aggressor and claimed he drew his service weapon and forced McLean out of the car.

“Darius had his hands up, the window down and his hazards on,” Mincey said. “He explained, ‘I stopped because you stopped my wife.'”

Pennsylvania State Police said McLean refused several lawful commands from the trooper, who then arrested him.

“There is no resistance from Celena,” Mincey said. “No resistance from Darius.”

When he was arrested, Morrison-McLean got out of her car and began recording video.

“I have never felt more helpless than in the moments when the state trooper held my husband’s life in his hands,” Morrison-McLean said. “I shouted to the officer several times, ‘I work for the mayor,’ hoping to make him realize that he was dealing with people he shouldn’t be afraid of.”

The officer then arrested Morrison-McLean.

“The images of him pointing his gun at me and later charging at my wife and attacking her as I lay handcuffed in the street are images I will never forget,” McLean said. “A formal apology is far from a measure of complete compensation for what they did to Celena and me. If anything, it’s the bare minimum.”