A Florida mayor has slammed a police officer's response to Gisele Bündchen's recent traffic stop.
As previously reported, the 43-year-old supermodel was pulled over earlier this week while driving her black Mercedes G-Wagon in Miami-Dade County.
Bodycam footage shows the moment Bündchen was approach by a cop following an undisclosed traffic violation. But while talking to the officer, she breaks down crying. Watch the moment unfold below:
While initial assumptions suggested Gisele's tears were a reaction to receiving a traffic ticket, the footage shows that her emotional distress stemmed from being relentlessly pursued by photographers.
In the video, Gisele appears visibly shaken as she expresses her concerns about being followed and stalked by paparazzi. She confides in the officer, explaining that she had been trying to evade a persistent paparazzo.
"I'm so tired. Everywhere I go I have these f***ing guys after me. Nothing protects me. I can't do nothing. I just want to live my life," an emotional Gisele expressed to the officer.
However, the officer appeared unsympathetic to the supermodel's tears, as he told her that he couldn't stop the photographers from doing their job.
Now, per Local 10 News, Mayor Charles Burkett has written a letter to Interim Chief Henry Doce to share his reaction to the now-viral bodycam footage.
“I was dismayed yesterday to watch a video interaction of one of our residents speaking to one of our police officers,” Mayor Burkett said.
"As one watches the video, it becomes clear very early in same that the resident is upset and frightened. The frightened resident tells the Surfside officer that she believes a stalker is following her and that she is afraid.”
Mayor Burkett described the officer's response as "wholly unacceptable and not reflective of the values, judgment and service residents expect from their police."
“On the contrary, our police department’s paramount job is to keep our residents safe! The dismissive posture towards a resident who is clearly in distress is everything we do not want to see in the way our police interact and serve our residents," the letter continued.
The Mayor wasn't the only person to express compassion for the supermodel - who is now dating Joaquim Valente following her divorce from football star Tom Brady.
After the footage was shared on TMZ's Facebook page, social media users were quick to jump to Gisele's defense.
"I do get it’s part of fame but there really should be more safety precautions in place, " one person commented. "Especially while driving. It should be against the law to allow paps to follow these celebrities. Just ridiculous."
"In a post-Princess Diana world, I can understand how this could be a legitimate fear," another person commented, referring to the late princess' fatal crash in Paris, in which she was being hounded by paps.
Another asked: "Stalking is against the law, why isn't this??"
However, others were less sympathetic, with one person writing: "That's part of fame, it goes with the territory."
Despite Page Six reaching out to Surfside Police, a public information officer declined to provide additional information regarding the incident, only confirming that Gisele Bündchen was stopped for a traffic violation.
Additionally, a representative for the model did not respond to Page Six's request for comment.
