A 24-year-old Portland police officer was arrested at a Ja Rule concert in Massachusetts on Saturday night.
Worcester, Massachusetts, police charged Zahra Abu with assault and battery, trespass, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace, according to a statement from Portland police Chief Michael Sauschuck.
Abu has been put on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal review of the matter, a city spokeswoman said.
“This issue will be dealt with as a personnel matter from this point forward so I will have no further comment,” Sauschuck said.
Abu was arrested during a concert featuring Ja Rule and Ashanti at the Palladium, a Worcester concert venue, according police in that city.
Abu was “acting unruly, pushed some people, was asked to leave numerous times, refused and was then subsequently placed under arrest,” a Worcester police officer said. There were no injuries.
In 2016, Abu made headlines as the first member of Maine’s Somali immigrant community to become a police officer in the state. She came to Portland with her family as an infant and graduated from Deering High School and the University of Southern Maine.
Worcester police did not respond to requests for comment from the Bangor Daily News.
Police told the Portland Press Herald that Abu was released on bail. She is expected to be arraigned at the Worcester District Court, The Telegram & Gazette, a local paper, reported.
Abu could not be immediately reached for comment.
WGME contributed to this report.
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