PHOENIX — Mayor Kate Gallego has apologized to the Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained by Phoenix police last November for asking questions to customers outside of a local bank.
Dion Rabouin was visiting the Valley last Thanksgiving and decided to work on an upcoming story that involved talking to bank customers.
He visited a Chase Bank location near State Route 51 and Cactus Road, where he spent about 40 minutes talking to people outside of the bank. Two bank employees came out and warned Rabouin that he couldn't solicit bank customers.
"No one asked me to leave," Rabouin told 12News. "That was the last I heard from them."
Then a Phoenix police officer arrived and told Rabouin that the bank employees allegedly wanted him trespassed from the property. The reporter was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car before he was eventually let go.
Mayor Gallego has recently sent an email to Rabouin stating that she's "deeply sorry" for how he was treated and claimed she wasn't aware of the incident until seeing local media reports.
"It was unacceptable and fell far short of my expectations for the treatment of any resident or any visitor, anywhere in this city," the mayor's email stated.
Gallego indicated the police chief had been made aware of her "displeasure" regarding the incident.
In response to Gallego's email, Rabouin thanked the mayor for reaching out.
"I greatly appreciate your apology and you pushing for reform. I look forward to the results of the investigation we were told has been started and hearing from the police department," Rabouin stated.
A spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department told 12News last week that the agency's Professional Standard Bureau will be conducting an administrative investigation into the situation.
In August 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into allegations of Phoenix police officers using excessive force.
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