The town of Windsor announced the discharge of one of the two Virginia police officers accused of using excessive force, pepper-spraying, and pointing their guns at the Black Army officer.
In December 2020, two Virginia police officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker pulled over 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario for what they believed was a missing license plate on Nazario’s new SUV.
The US Army officer is suing the two Virginia police officers for using excessive force. The lawsuit by 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario seeks $1 million in compensatory damages claiming the officers violated his rights under the First and Fourth Amendments.
Suit Claims
Filed in the US District Court, the suit claims excessive force, illegal search, and unlawful seizure. As well as violation of his First Amendment right to free speech, common law assault, battery, and false imprisonment.
In this case, the sides dispute what happens. In Crockers report, he wrote that he believed Nazario was “eluding police” and marked the situation as a “high-risk traffic stop.” 2nd Lt. Nazario’s attorney, Jonathan Arthur, explained that Nazario was not trying to elude the police officers but was trying to stop in a well-lit area.
Windsor officials said an internal investigation found that the office did not follow the department policy for using force. This lead to disciplinary action and the discharge of Joe Gutierrez on April 11th.
Additional Department-wide Requirements
Once more, the officials stated that department-wide requirements for additional training started in the beginning of January.
“The Town of Windsor prides itself in its small-town charm and the community-wide respect of its Police Department… Due to this, we are saddened for events like this to cast our community in a negative light. Rather than deflect criticism, we have addressed these matters with our personnel administratively.” Read a statement from the town of Windsor, Virginia.
They encourage community stakeholders to engage in dialogue and commit themselves to additional discussions in the future.
