Gabriel B. Tait, a staff photographer for the Post-Dispatch, was arrested Saturday by Berkeley police while taking pictures at the scene of an auto accident. Police also confiscated his camera equipment and company-provided car.

Berkeley police Sgt. J.M. Alligood declined to discuss the case. "You'll have to get all that from Mr. Tait," Alligood told the Post-Dispatch.

Tait said he was taking pictures of a Ford Explorer that had left westbound Interstate 70 west of Hanley Road and overturned. Tait said he was standing in an area with other observers when an officer ordered him to stop taking pictures and leave.

He said an officer grabbed his camera and pushed him against a fire department vehicle. Officers then handcuffed him and placed him under arrest.

Berkeley Mayor Babatunde Deinbo said he had asked city manager Joe King to look into the incident. Tait, 32, has worked for the newspaper since July 2002.