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Uniformed army officer sprayed with pepper during traffic stop and drawn guns on him, charges two police officers involved
A US Army second lieutenant who was held at gunpoint, sprayed with pepper spray and thrown to the ground by police officers during a traffic stop in Virginia, is suing the two involved law enforcement officers. Caron Nazario, a black and Latino soldier, was dressed in his military outfit when Windsor Police stopped his SUV on December 20 for what they said was not a rear license plate and tinted windows, according to federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. district . Court in Norfolk and obtained by The Virginian Pilot. Nazario – who had recently purchased the vehicle and had a temporary cardboard plate in the window – drove for a short while before stopping the vehicle in the lit parking lot of a nearby gas station. Windsor police officer Daniel Crocker, who initiated the stop, later described the interaction as a “ high-risk traffic stop, ” saying Nazario had “ escaped the police, ” despite acknowledging the army officer’s slow speed, according to a report on submission. According to CNN, Nazario had come to a stop in the gas station parking lot less than a mile and a minute and 40 seconds after Crocker initially turned on his lights. Hearing the call on the radio, a second officer, Joe Gutierrez, arrived to provide support and both officers immediately drew their guns and began shouting conflicting instructions at Nazario, who remained in the vehicle wondering why he was detained. , the lawsuit said. Nazario told the officers he had not attempted to evade them, but stopped in a well-lit area “for the safety of the officers and out of respect for the officers,” the Associated Press said. Viral camera footage from the incident shows Nazario throwing his arms in the air when he was ordered by the two officers to get out of his vehicle. “I’m really scared to get out,” you hear Nazario say to the officers. “Yes, you should be!” one of the officers replies. They kept yelling for him to get out of the car and started spraying pepper spray repeatedly in the car when Nazario – who still had his arms up – said he “didn’t even want to grab his seat belt.” “My hands are out, can you please – see, this is really a mess,” he said. He also told officers that his dog, who had been in a cage in the back of the vehicle, was “choking” from the pepper spray, CNN reports. Nazario got out of the SUV after noticing that he “reached for my seat belt” and asked for a supervisor, but Gutierrez performed “knee strikes” on his legs and pushed him to the ground, the suit claims. the Associated. Press. The officers handcuffed him and later opened a rear window for the dog that was still inside. Nazario began filming the incident on his cell phone shortly after he pulled up in the parking lot. His lawyers have argued that the images, combined with the camera images of the agents of the incident, paint a disturbing picture. “These cameras captured images of behavior in line with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, rude, racially biased, dangerous and sometimes lethal abuse of authority,” said the lawsuit. Gutierrez later said that while Nazario’s desire to stop in a well-lit space was “reasonable” and “always happens,” usually when the subject is a minority, the problem was that Nazario did not get out of the vehicle. The lawsuit alleges that the officers realized they had “acted illegally” and told him that if he “chilled out and let this go,” they would let him go without filing a charge. However, they are said to have threatened that if Nazario refused, he could be charged with obstructing justice, dodging the police and assaulting a law enforcement officer. In his police report describing the incident, Gutierrez said they decided to release Nazario after considering several options, the Virginian Pilot said. “The reason for this decision is simple; the military is the only place where double danger applies. This means that no matter what happened in civil court, the military could still take action against him. As a military veteran, I didn’t want his career ruined by one wrong decision, ”he wrote. Windsor Town Manager William Saunders told CNN that Gutierrez has been fired as a result of the incident. At the end of this investigation, it was determined that the Windsor Police Department’s policy was not being followed. This resulted in disciplinary action, and department-wide requirements for additional training were implemented from January and continue to date. Since then, Officer Gutierrez has also been fired, ” said a statement released Sunday. Crocker will remain with the department. Windsor police have yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit, but Virginia government Ralph Northam issued a statement on Twitter on Sunday. “The Windsor incident worried and angered me – and I am ordering Virginia State Police to open an independent investigation,” Northam said. “Our Commonwealth has done important police reform work, but we must continue to work to ensure that Virginians are safe when interacting with the police, that enforcement of laws is fair and equitable, and that people are held accountable.” Oxygen.com contacted Nazario’s attorney but received no immediate response.