Jury Mostly Sides With VA Cops In Black Soldier's Lawsuit: Report

RICHMOND, VA — A federal jury on Tuesday mainly ruled in favor of two police officers sued by a Black U.S. Army lieutenant who said he was doused with pepper spray, hit, and handcuffed by police during a traffic stop in rural Virginia, The Associated Press reported.

Caron Nazario, whose video of the stop was viewed millions of times, filed a lawsuit in 2021 claiming he was falsely imprisoned and that his vehicle was illegally searched by Windsor police officers Daniel Crocker and Joe Gutierrez.

• RELATED: Trial Of Black Soldier Suing VA Police Over Violent Stop Begins

The jury in Richmond found Gutierrez liable for assault and awarded Nazario $2,685 in compensatory damages, according to attorneys on both sides of the case.

The jury also awarded Nazario $1,000 in punitive damages after Crocker illegally searched Nazario's SUV, the attorneys said. A federal judge ruled last year that Crocker was liable for the search.

The jury found in favor of Crocker and against Nazario's claims of assault and battery and false imprisonment, the attorneys said. The jury found in favor of Gutierrez regarding the soldier's claims of battery, false imprisonment and illegal search.

"Having now heard all of the evidence and learning the full picture of this case, we believe the jury reached the correct decision," one of Crocker's attorneys, Anne Lahren, said in a statement. "In the present climate, this took a lot of courage and we thank the jury for their service."

The lawsuit stems from an incident in December 2020 when Nazario was driving home from his duty station. According to the lawsuit, as Nazario passed through the small town of Windsor, Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows.

Crocker said the driver was "eluding police" and considered it a "high-risk traffic stop," according to a report included in the lawsuit. An attorney for Nazario later explained the soldier was trying to stop in a well-lit area "for officer safety and out of respect for the officers."

The lawsuit stated that Gutierrez was driving by and decided to join the traffic stop. By the time the two officers reached Nazario's SUV, the license plate was visible in the rear.

When Nazario stopped at a well-lit gas station, the two officers immediately drew their guns and pointed them at Nazario, his lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit says that the officers then attempted to pull Nazario out of the vehicle while he kept his hands in the air. Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times as the officers yelled for him to get out, the lawsuit says.

At one point, Gutierrez told Nazario he was "fixin' to ride the lightning," a reference to the electric chair that was also a line from "The Green Mile," a film about a Black man facing execution, the lawsuit said.

Nazario got out and asked for a supervisor. The lawsuit says that Gutierrez responded with "knee-strikes" to his legs, knocking Nazario to the ground. The two officers struck him multiple times, then handcuffed and interrogated him, the lawsuit says.

The traffic stop was captured on Nazario's cellphone and the officer's body-worn cameras.

Video of the stop surfaced in April 2021 after Nazario sued in federal court, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated. The images sparked outrage and served as a grim reminder to many Black Americans that a military uniform doesn't necessarily protect against mistreatment by police.

In August 2022, a judge ruled that Nazario's lawsuit could move forward; however, he also decided that neither Crocker nor Gutierrez violated the Black and Hispanic soldier's rights against excessive force, unreasonable seizure and free speech.

Crocker is still on the force, but Gutierrez was fired in April 2021, the same month Nazario filed his lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.