'At that point I'm scared' | Woman details interaction with MPD over allegedly parking illegally in DC

WASHINGTON — A video on X, formerly known as Twitter is gaining attention across the region. The video shows bits and pieces of an interaction between a D.C. officer and an older woman. Several people have raised questions surrounding the details of the video, which has been viewed over 50,000 times. WUSA9 reached out to the woman to gain more clarity on the situation.

D.C. native, Dr. Tracye Garrett Herndon detailed the moments when she says she was “bullied” by a D.C. officer Tuesday afternoon. She said she is traumatized by what happened.

Herndon was sitting in her car waiting for her son outside of his apartment building in Southwest, D.C.

“Initially I was blocking traffic while waiting for him to come down. So, I pulled up a little further right around the corner but out of the street,” Dr. Garrett-Herndon explained.

She says the officer in the video approached her car, and then aggressively told her she was not allowed to park there.

“I wasn’t blocking anything, so I thought I was good. He said this is for bikes and buses and I did like this [throws a hand up in the air in an apologetic manner] and said, ‘Officer I apologize I didn’t know,’” Dr. Garrett-Herndon said.

Her son came out of his apartment building in time to catch part of the interaction between the officer and his mother on his cell phone.

WUSA9 reached out to MPD to follow up on the video and ask for more information.

According to the police report, the officer saw her car blocking the bicycle lane and told her she was going to receive a violation warning.

The cell phone video captured by Dr. Garrett-Herndon's son doesn’t show those moments. WUSA9 asked her if the officer told her she was getting a warning when he first approached her car.

“No, not then,” Dr. Garrett-Herndon said. “I immediately told him I apologize and I’m moving, I’m sorry.”

Dr. Garrett-Herndon said she started to get nervous, so she moved her car to a lot off the street. That's when the officer began to follow her.

“He parks, then jumps out of his vehicle and says ‘What’s wrong with you lady?' Garrett-Herndon said.

When WUSA9 reached out to DC Police about the allegations made in the video, they said the complaint has been referred to the Office of Police Complaints for further investigation.

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