When a Pittsburgh couple, Khari Mosley and Chelsa Wagner, were both arrested at the Book Cadillac Hotel in March, the narrative presented to the public went something like this:
Khari Mosley and Chelsa Wagner (Photo: Facebook)
Couple comes to Detroit for a getaway. Man leaves room without key card, drinks for a while in the bar, realizes he can't get back in because the reception desk won't let him into a room registered in his wife's name, then "creates a disturbance" that requires police to be called.
The crisis seems to be averted when Wagner, who had been sleeping, answers the door and lets Mosley in. But then "loud noise and shouting" ensued as the police were leaving, they reentered the room and opted to arrest Mosley. As sometimes happens in domestic situations, Wagner defended her husband and she also ended up being charged with disorderly conduct.
In a July jury trial, however, Mosley was acquitted of all charges. Back in Pittsburgh, he's telling his own version of what happened. And it's different from the drunk-couple story originally floated by Detroit authorities.
The New Pittsburgh Courier reports:
“That sounds reasonable, to be honest,” said Khari Mosley who, with his wife, Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner, were that out-of-town couple in Detroit on March 6. “That’s not beyond the realm of understanding, but what happened was way more like the Twilight Zone.”
Wagner adds:
“There’s still a story out there that doesn’t represent what actually came out at trial. It’s the Westin’s incompetence. They racially profiled him (Mosley) and said he was a vagrant (though he was dressed in a high-end red Polo warmup suit). They filed a false police report. The police relied on that report and admitted at trial they failed to investigate,” she said. “It’s a train wreck for them because what came out at trial is now in full view.”
While the general outline of the two stories are roughly the same, there are key discrepancies that the Pittsburgh couple implies signals either incompetence or a deliberate attempt to obscure relevant information -- missing videos, a police bodycam with a missing audio track, etc.
Mosley's acquittal on all charges suggests the case against him was less than what was touted:
At the trial, the only witnesses called to testify were Detroit police and hotel security guards. The security guards admitted that Mosley never threatened anyone on the night in question. The Detroit police admitted they did not see Mosley break any laws. As for the “banging and crashing” that was missing from the police audio recording, and was the pretext for the police re-entering the room and eventually arresting Wagner, it appears to have been pretext only.
Wagner has her own court date, in November. She, too, has requested a jury trial. She told the Courier, "I never thought I’d see a system that would make me think our criminal justice system here (in Pittsburgh) is good." Apparently Detroit did so.
