New Bodycam Footage Reveals Tense Exchange
Newly released police bodycam video captures Taylor Frankie Paul, the 27-year-old star of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, arguing with an officer while appearing intoxicated during her 2023 arrest. The footage, recorded just before her detention, shows the reality TV personality slurring her words, interrupting the officer, and calling her father for assistance.
Paul questions the officer sharply, asking, ‘What is your job, exactly?’ as he attempts to conduct an interview on her front porch. She expresses frustration about being outside her home while her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, speaks with another officer inside.
Details of the Confrontation
The video begins amid a heated discussion. Paul demands, ‘I’m getting curious why I’m outside my house and he’s inside. Bring him out here and me inside. This is my house.’ The officer remains calm, suggesting fresh air might help, but Paul enters the house anyway, interrupting Mortensen’s interview.
She tells Mortensen, ‘You’re upset, I’m upset. Get out of my house,’ before grabbing water and continuing to challenge the officer. Paul accuses Mortensen of pushing her in the garage and dials her father, sobbing, ‘Dad, please come to my house. Dakota pushed me in the garage, and the police are saying that I can’t talk about it.’
The officer urges her to calm down, noting her intoxication and reminding her to keep quiet for her sleeping children, including one on the nearby sofa. Paul insists she’s only at a ‘two out of 10’ intoxication level and challenges the officer to test her with a breathalyzer, mispronouncing it as ‘blezaryzer’ before correcting herself.
Background of the Incident
Police responded to a domestic violence call at Paul’s Herriman, Utah, home on February 17, 2023. Mortensen told officers Paul became violent after he refused to take her to a concert due to her heavy intoxication from a girls’ night out. She threw metal chairs at him, damaging walls and her truck, and accidentally struck her five-year-old daughter, Indy, in the head.
Mortensen, a recovering addict, explained they had agreed to avoid alcohol. He described Paul throwing her phone, jumping on his vehicle, and hurling a wooden playset. He pushed her aside to leave but feared for his safety due to the heavy objects thrown in front of Indy, while her two-year-old son, Ocean, slept upstairs.
Paul admitted going ‘ballistic,’ pushing and hitting Mortensen because she felt scared after he allegedly pushed her first. She claimed she ‘peed’ herself from fear. Officers noted a strong alcohol odor and injuries on both, but identified Paul as the primary aggressor after Mortensen shared cellphone video of the chair hitting Indy.
Arrest and Charges
Initially booked on misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child, charges escalated to two counts of third-degree felony domestic violence in the presence of a child with injury, Class A misdemeanor child abuse with injury, and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief. Conviction could mean up to five years per felony.
During arrest, Paul protested, ‘So he isn’t being arrested? He pushed me and I’m under arrest?’ and later, ‘He punched me too and I’m a girl.’ Her parents arrived to care for the children; her mother stated, ‘Yeah that’s domestic violence,’ and later added, ‘My grandkids should have never seen this.’
Paul shares Indy and Ocean with ex-husband Tate, from whom she divorced after admitting to excesses during a ‘soft swinging’ event. She began dating Mortensen afterward and boasts over 4 million TikTok followers sharing her Mormon influencer lifestyle.
Recent Updates
Paul’s next court date is April 14. She recently shared on TikTok that she’s using Zoloft for depression and anxiety, attending therapy, and spending time with Mortensen’s family, while pausing kids’ appearances on the platform.
