The jury awarded 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario a total of $3,685 in the lawsuit against Windsor, Virginia, police officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker. As such, the jury will be tasked only with awarding damages for the search, as well as deciding whether either officers actions constituted false imprisonment and assault and battery. Matthews contended in his opening that any damages stemming from the search were absolutely and totally minimal.. Eventually, Crocker attempted to open Nazarios door while he told him to calm down.. Published 5:58 pm Friday, January 13, 2023. The lawsuit was filed Friday. Nazario filed a lawsuit in April against Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker and former officer Gutierrez, saying his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights were violated during the December 2020 traffic stop. The Windsor Police Department is comprised of approximately 65 employees; 52 sworn officers and 10 civilians and dispatchers. The officers pulled over Nazario on the evening of Dec. 5, 2020. Additionally, the law enforcement community has considered seriously the failure of officers like Daniel Crocker to promptly intervene to end an unjust police-civilian encounter as it unfolds. This was the first time the state of Virginia has sued a law enforcement agency under a new law that gives the attorney general the right to do so in cases involving civil rights violations. Caron Nazario says his constitutional rights were violated by the traffic stop in the town of Windsor in December. Nazario stated that he wanted to pull over in a well-lit area. Neither have asked for the other claim, the Fourth Amendment violation, to be dismissed. An Army lieutenant who sought $1 million in damages, but was awarded $3,685, in an excessive force lawsuit against two Windsor police officers has filed a motion seeking a new trial, with his. Anyone can read what you share. If the Iditarod race inspired you, weve compiled a list of the best gear to keep your dog safe and happy throughout winter, as well as year-round. Now, Nazario is asking for at least $1 million in damages and for the court to rule that the two officers violated his rights, including rights under the Fourth Amendment. This has got to stop, said Jonathan Arthur, Nazarios Richmond-based attorney who believes his client is a victim of police brutality. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Politicians and celebrities from across the United States have weighed in on the video. Virginia attorney general sues town over police treatment of Black people after Caron Nazario investigation. In April, Lieutenant Nazario filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Gutierrez then said that he had spoken with the chief of police because Nazario had asked for a supervisor. Windsor Police, via Reuters By Jenny Gross Dec. 31, 2021 Virginia's attorney general filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the town of Windsor, seeking changes in policing and saying that his. The town filed a motion this week asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed by previous Attorney General Mark Herring in December. He accused the officers of illegally searching his car, using excessive force and violating his rights under the First and Fourth Amendments. According to the suit, 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario, an Army Medical Corps officer of Latinx and African American . There was no need for Mr. The community they serve is nearly 30 square miles with a population of 28,500 citizens. EMS arrived soon after to administer aid to Nazario. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Two Windsor police officers are facing a civil lawsuit that alleges they acted aggressively towards a minority, uniformed Army officer during a traffic stop. He put at least one hand outside his drivers side window after officers ordered him several times to do so. Nazario was not charged in the incident. The lawsuit by 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages, claiming two Windsor, Virginia, police officers violated his rights guaranteed. The body camera footage records Nazario repeatedly asking, Whats going on? Gutierrez at one point answers by telling Nazario he was fixin to ride the lightning, a phrase Nazarios lawsuit contends is a colloquial reference to an execution. Nazarios lawyers point to a 2006 case where a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that retaliatory action in the nature of speech that threatens, coerces or intimidates establishes a violation of an individual's First Amendment rights. RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) On Monday, January 9, the federal trial began for a U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper sprayed after being pulled over in Windsor in 2020. Crocker, he noted, had been only six weeks out of the police academy at the time, and had been in field training under the supervision of Gutierrez. Virginias attorney general, Mark Herring, are assisting Somali soldiers fighting Al Shabab, and by a health care system that utterly failed him, The case has irritated U.S. relations with a crucial military ally, one of nearly 100 Virginia communities to receive federal grants encouraging tickets. Young ruled in August that Crockers removal of a firearm from Nazarios car to check its serial number constituted an illegal search. The Town of Windsor announced Sunday night that Gutierrez had been terminated from the police force following an internal investigation. The stop sparked nationwide backlash and Virginia's attorney general later sued Windsor, a small town about 70 miles southeast of Richmond, alleging the town's police engaged in discriminatory. A big piece of that is the body camera video. Gutierrez yelled at Nazario that he was fixin to ride the lightning, which the complaint states is an expression for execution. (AP). RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) The law firm representing Virginia National Guard Lt. Caron Nazario, shown in a viral video having guns drawn on him and being pepper-sprayed by officers from the Windsor, Virginia, Police Department, released a statement on Monday thanking those whove shown support of a civil rights lawsuit filed against the two policemen in Norfolk federal court. There was a temporary tag displayed in the tinted rear window. The police department provides law enforcement services to the Town of Windsor including but not limited to: * Patrol Duties. The town of Windsor said the Virginia Attorney Generals Office used flawed data to support a lawsuit accusing its police department of operating in a discriminatory way against Black motorists. Let's talk about the Meteorological Winter that wasn't. The jury however largely sided with the officers, finding Nazario didnt prove other allegations in the suit, such as false imprisonment. It can occur as a result of living through combat, rape, a natural disaster, historical trauma, domestic violence or bullying. pepper sprayed, pushed to the ground and handcuffed. The incident was captured by the officers body cameras and the footage became the basis of a lawsuit filed by Nazario against the officers last year. In this image taken from Windsor Police video, a police officer uses a spray agent on Caron Nazario, an Army lieutenant who is Black and Latino, on Dec. 20, 2020. Updated He was cleared of all false imprisonment, illegal search, and battery charges. Lt. Caron Nazario, of Latinx and African American descent, alleges that his constitutional rights were violated and race played a role. As officers continued their orders and moved closer to the drivers side window of Nazarios vehicle, Nazario asked several times why he was being pulled over. WINDSOR, Va. A U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper sprayed, struck, and handcuffed by police in rural Virginia, but never arrested, is arguing to a jury . Start your morning in-the-know with the day's top stories. The lawsuit, filed by James Laughton . Nazarios sessions with Sellman over a year have cost him a cumulative $16,000. Windsor is one of nearly 100 Virginia communities to receive federal grants encouraging tickets. Nazario testified he didnt hear the ride the lighting statement correctly, and thought hed heard Gutierrez say see the light, which he took to mean death and the light of heaven. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Awarded by the state authorities, the annual grants ranged last year from $900 to the village of Exmore for catching seatbelt violations, to $1 million to Fairfax County for drunken-driving enforcement. In this image made from Windsor, (Va.) Police video, A police officer uses a spray agent on Caron Nazario on Dec. 20, 2020, in Windsor, Va. Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, is suing two Virginia police officers over a traffic stop during which he says the officers drew their guns and pointed them at him as he was dressed in uniform. 2. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. * Conduct Investigations. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. The Virginian-Pilot was the first to report on the lawsuit and release the body camera footage, which quickly went viral. * Security for Special Events. At that time, when he was safe to drive, he would be free to go, Gutierrez said. At one moment, Gutierrez said to Nazario, If you want to fight it and argue it and I dont mean that disrespectfully, okay you have that right as a citizen if thats what you want, well charge you, have you go to court, notify the [military] command, do all that, or we can take time out of our night, which is not a problem, were being paid to take care of you. He was ordered to pay $1,000 in punitive damages and the jury did not find him guilty of false imprisonment, assault, or battery. He did not want to stop on a dark road, so he drove about a mile to a gas station, according to a lawsuit and video footage of the encounter. The lawsuit was filed in April after an internal investigation was completed, with the public raising major concerns about the incident. A Warner Bros. The jury in Virginia National Guard 1st Lt. Caron Nazario's lawsuit against Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker and ex-officer Joe Gutierrez has adjourned for the weekend without reaching a verdict. chapter for Isle of Wight County, thanked the attorney general for taking action and said the group had tried for months to negotiate in good faith with Windsor leaders. Once standing outside of the car, Gutierrez exercised knee-strikes and Crocker helped to eventually force Nazario to the ground and handcuff him. After the footage of Lieutenant Nazarios stop was released last year, Windsor leaders moved to pursue ways to slow traffic while reducing police and citizen contacts, including electronic signs and rumble strips. The lawsuit claims that Gutierrez said the charges could impact Nazarios career with the Army. When he stopped, a Windsor police officer ordered Lieutenant Nazario, then 27, to get out of his car. Nazario said he did, and Crocker went into the vehicle to retrieve the gun, which Arthur, the attorney, contends was an illegal search. Nazario, now 29, was a 2nd lieutenant at the time of the traffic stop but has since been promoted to 1st lieutenant. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Nazario filed a lawsuit in April against Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker and former officer Gutierrez, saying his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights were violated during the. In court, lawyers for the officers argued Nazario continued driving for 1.1 miles after Crocker initiated his lights and sirens and did not pull over at a number of potential locations, WTVR reported. Nazario, who is of Black and Latino descent, accuses the two white officers of racially motivated police brutality while holding him at gunpoint during a Dec. 5, 2020, traffic stop and shouting conflicting commands at him to keep his hands out of his cars window and exit the vehicle. A portion of the body camera video recorded during the stop captures Gutierrez speaking to Nazario after tensions calmed and he was waiting for the effects of the pepper spray to wear off. We hope with this lawsuit the Town of Windsor will take this matter seriously and they will have no other choice but to sit down and have a results-driven conversation with the African American community, she said. Officers claimed the traffic stop escalated because Nazario didnt stop immediately and his rear license plate couldnt be seen; it was posted on the inside of the rear windshield. PTSD symptoms, according to the American Psychiatric Association, include nightmares or flashbacks, feeling detached or estranged. Earlier Monday morning, the lawyers for the three involved parties worked with Young to narrow down a pool of 46 jurors to nine, only one of whom is Black. Every story has two sides, she noted, stating traffic stops are high risk. She also noted Nazarios New York plate had expired two months prior to the incident. The town also claims the lawsuit erroneously assumes that only residents of Windsor and Isle of Wight county travel through the area, and ignores the fact that the main road in town Route 460 is a major thoroughfare. Arthur said Nazarios Fourth Amendment rights were violated when officers exercised and unreasonable use of force and temporarily seized Nazarios gun. The traffic stop happened on December 5, 2020, when former police officer Joe Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Lt. Caron Nazario, whose hands were up out of his car window. FORECAST: No roaring lion this year to start March, captured on camera pepper-spraying and threatening him during a traffic stop. Arthur said the lawsuit was filed in federal court because it alleges Nazario's constitutional rights were violated. News 3 reached out to Gutierrezs attorneys and did not hear back. The lawsuit said after Crocker turned on his cruisers blue lights, Nazario traveled less than a mile and slowed down until he pulled into a BP gas station. About 2,600 people live in Windsor, a town roughly 70 miles southeast of Richmond. Example video title will go here for this video. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Gutierrez was fired in 2021 following an investigation into the use of force during the incident and Crocker remains on the force. He was cleared of all other charges. In body camera footage, Gutierrez told Nazario that if he had just complied he would have been gone by now.. "It is open season on citizens in Virginia and across the county," Roberts said in a statement. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A Virginia town has announced that one of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing . [Related coverage: Police videos like the Windsor one that went viral usually stay secret in Virginia]. Murdoch made the admission during a deposition in a $1.6bn lawsuit brought by a voting . The Windsor police also ended grant-funded patrols, saying it was in the best interest of our agency and our community.. Senator Tim Kaine have all released statements condemning the actions of the two officers and called for a criminal investigation into the incident. He also said they violated the First Amendment by threating Nazarios career if he complained. The lawsuit and videos have also now caught the attention of local civil rights groups. There are currently 12 open civil lawsuits against the Windsor Police Service totalling more than $46 million and those involve allegations such as collusion, malicious prosecution, assault. Boss, basketball &, Youngkin to take part in CNN town hall amid 2024, Guilford school board bill gets 1st reading in NC, Back-to-back hurricanes more likely to happen: Study, Al-Qaida chiefs pattern of life was key to death, Bike tours raising awareness for bone marrow registry, 180 days in jail possible for ski pass fraud, Pilot, passenger walk away from plane crash on E-470, Watch: 4 mountain lions prowl Colorado neighborhood, Hospital bills $847 facility fee for Zoom call, Good Samaritan helps rescue kids from icy pond, Whats next in unprecedented case of truck driver. If you dont say anything, we wont say anything, implying that, If you do, were going to charge you with something.' The officers faced four counts: assault, battery, false imprisonment and illegal search. By the time Nazario stopped in the gas station, a second officer, Joe Gutierrez, had also arrived in his cruiser behind Crocker. ONGOING COVERAGE: Lt. 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