Trial Of Black Soldier Suing VA Police Over Violent Stop Begins

RICHMOND, VA — The trial of a Black soldier who claims he was doused with pepper spray, hit, and handcuffed by police, but never arrested during a traffic stop, in rural Virginia began Monday in federal court in Richmond.

Caron Nazario, a U.S. Army lieutenant 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.

The lawsuit stems from an incident that happened in December 2020 when Nazario was driving home from his duty station. 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, according to the lawsuit.

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 other officer, Gutierrez, was driving by and decided to join the traffic stop, the lawsuit stated. 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 officers then attempted to pull Nazario out of the vehicle while he continued to keep his hands in the air, the lawsuit says. 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.

Since the traffic stop, Nazario has developed anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to his lawsuit. He has been unable to leave home at times due to “hypervigilance regarding the potential for harassment by law enforcement,” court filings state.

A psychologist found that Nazario, who is Black and Latino, suffers from race-based trauma associated with violent police encounters, which can exacerbate injuries “in ways that do not commonly affect the white populations.”

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.