David Gregory, a prominent journalist and political commentator on CNN, told authorities that a D.C. police officer made offending comments to his Pakistani-born driver during a traffic stop Friday morning in Northwest Washington.

“I will take everything away from you,” Gregory said he heard the officer say. The veteran reporter said his driver told him later that the officer also said, “I will take your head off.”

Gregory published the comments on his Twitter feed and said he later received calls from the mayor’s office and a top police official. “They were eager to follow up and learn more,” Gregory said. “They were very concerned and wanted to express their regrets to the driver.”

The office of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) responded in a statement saying, “The incident described on social media does not illustrate who we are as a city or how we carry ourselves when serving residents and members of the public.” The police and Bowser’s aides “have already made contact to understand what transpired and will review the matter,” the statement added. Police said they have spoken to the driver.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. after Gregory had finished CNN’s morning show, “New Day,” and was returning home. He said he was in the back of a sedan talking to his wife on the phone when his driver, who works for a company used by CNN on contract, passed a line of buses on New York Avenue near the I-395 interchange.

Gregory said the driver thought the buses were parked, but they were waiting for a light. Gregory said the D.C. officer driving a small SUV pulled over his driver for crossing the double-yellow line but did not issue a citation.

The driver, through Gregory, declined to be interviewed by The Washington Post.

Gregory said he didn’t know whether the alleged comments were directed at his driver’s ethnicity or were made out of anger for the traffic violation. At the same time, the veteran reporter and former host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said he could not remain silent.

[CNN journalist David Gregory tweets about encounter with D.C. officer]

“I have the greatest respect for the police officers in our city and the job they do day in and day out,” Gregory said. “But we are in a highly charged atmosphere. I’m somebody who is immersed in covering and analyzing our political discourse in our country. Citizens have an obligation to look after each other. That is the reason I wanted to raise this.”

Gregory called the comments “striking and disturbing. To use that kind of language was beyond the pale.”

The reported comments come days after the election of Donald Trump to the presidency and concerns among immigrant groups and others offended by Trump threatening mass deportation of people illegally in the country and banning of Muslims from entering, and whether his rhetoric targeting ethnic groups has given supporters license to lash out at minorities. Gregory said the driver has lived in the United States for many years, and Gregory said he believes the driver is a citizen.

District officials said they are working to identify the officer and determine if he was wearing a body camera that could have recorded the interaction.

Gregory said the officer did not get out of his vehicle but appeared angry and yelled at his driver, whom he described as shaken by the incident. Gregory tweeted, and stated in an interview, that the driver “broke traffic laws” and deserved to be cited for a traffic infraction.

Perry Stein contributed to this report