Army Lieutenant, Caron Nazario, was pepper sprayed and held at gunpoint in December 2020, during a traffic stop in Virginia. As a result, he decided to sue the officers involved, Daniel Crocker, and now-former officer, Joe Guiterrez.
Lt. Nazario, who is Black and Latino, had a federal lawsuit against the officers for assault and racial profiling. Nazario was seeking $1 Million in damages. On Tuesday, the jury only awarded the Lieutenant $3,685 after a 5-day trial against the Windsor, Virginia officers.
ABC News reported, Crocker owed $1,000 in punitive damages for an illegal search and Guitterez owed $2,685 for the assault claim. Nazario’s lawyer, Tom Roberts, said it was a “sad day” and that the verdicts fail to send the message to other police officers that “this conduct is unacceptable.” He then said, “It is open season on citizens in Virginia and across the county,” Roberts said. “Citizens will not rest assured that scenes like this are not repeated with impunity”.
It was also found that Crocker violated Nazario’s 4th amendment right to refuse a search. Unfortunately, Nazario was not granted any damages for that offense. Neither of the officers was found guilty of falsely imprisoning Nazario as well.
For Those New To The Story…
Lt. Nazario was driving his newly purchased Chevy Tahoe when he was pulled over by police. It was reported that the officers treated the stop as a “high-risk traffic stop” due to there being no license plates on the car, dark window tint, and he took a long time to stop the vehicle.
Lt. Nazario’s lawyers argued that there were indeed plates taped to the side of the vehicle. They also stated that Lt. Nazario took a while to pull over because he wanted to stop in a well-lit area.
The confrontation between Lt. Nazario and the police led to him being pepper-sprayed. Paramedics were called to treat Lt. Nazario’s eyes after being pepper-sprayed, but he was not arrested according to his lawsuit.
The incident was captured on body cameras and Lt. Nazario’s cell phone. SEE BELOW
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