WINDSOR, Va. -- An Army Lieutenant told a Virginia jury that he pulled into a well-lit gas station on US 460 in Windsor and rolled down his window during a traffic stop expecting an officer to walk up to his window
Instead, Lt. Caron Nazario, who is Black, saw Officer Daniel Crocker and Officer Joseph Gutierrez with their guns pointed at him yelling at him to get out of the car.
The incidenthappened on December 5, 2020, and left Nazario in handcuffs struggling to see after being pepper sprayed. However, Nazario was never arrested or charged.
Nazario sued Crocker and Gutierrez for assault and battery, false imprisonment and illegal search of his vehicle. On Monday, the civil trial began.
U.S. District Court Judge Roderick Young told the jury Nazario had the burden of proving his case since this is a civil case. However, he did not have to meet the criminal standard of proving his case beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury will have to decide if they believe the two officers acted reasonably when they pulled Nazario over.
Nazario and his attorneys argued the officers did not act reasonably after Nazario acted appropriately during the stop. They said he slowed down, drove for one mile until he found a well-lit BP gas station to pull into and rolled down his window.
Nazario said he did not realize he was being pulled over at first and thought Officer Crocker was responding to another emergency.
Once Nazario had pulled into the gas station and rolled down his window, that's when he saw the officers outside their vehicles with their guns pointed at him.
Officer Crocker, who had only been on the job for six weeks, was the policeman who initiated the traffic stop and was under the training supervision of Officer Gutierrez who responded shortly after Crocker radioed that he had initiated a felony traffic stop.
Crocker pulled Nazario over because he did not have a license plate and he said he did not see the temporary tag in Nazario's back window.
Crocker's lawyer told the jury Nazario's SUV had tinted windows, and the officer had no way of knowing if the car was stolen or carrying contraband. He described the incident as a high-risk traffic stop.
Nazario's lawyers showed body camera footage and video from Nazario's cell phone that he recorded during the incident.
In the video, you can hear the officers repeatedly yelling at Nazario to get out of the car. Nazario responded that he was not going to get out and kept asking what was going on.
Officer Gutierrez screamed "you're fixin' to ride the lightning son," which Nazario interpreted as a threat.
Nazario testified that he thought it meant he was going to "die." At one point during the interaction, he told the officers he was not complying with their commands to get out of the car because he was scared, and Gutierrez said "you should be."
Gutierrez's lawyer stated in court Monday that her client admitted those were "stupid statements."
Gutierrez ultimately deployed OC spray in Nazario's face and commanded him to get out of the car. Nazario stepped out and the officers yelled at him to lie down on the ground. He refused to comply and Gutierrez went "hands-on" to take him to the ground and handcuff him.
Nazario said he court he did not want to get on the ground because he feared he would be shot.
Gutierrez's attorneys and Crocker's attorneys argue both officers followed their training during the "high-risk" traffic stop. They said Nazario refused to comply with their orders to get out of the car and the police have a legal right to order a driver out of their car during a traffic stop.
In fact, they said the officers asked Nazario to get out of his car 30 times and he did not comply.
Crocker's attorney said the force the officers used to get Nazario to comply was "totally reasonable" and they used the least amount of force possible considering the circumstances, adding that traffic stops are among the most dangerous calls that officers respond to.
Body camera video showed that while Nazario recovered from the OC spray, the two officers chatted with him and blamed Nazario for escalating what would have been a "two-minute" interaction by not getting out of the car.
"But you had guns drawn," Nazario said.
"You did not pull over right away and in this climate, our suspicions are raised," Crocker replied. "Do you get our perspective on the safety issue for us?"
"Yeah, but I put my hands out," Nazario said.
"I couldn't tell what was in them," Crocker replied.
The trial is expected to last through Friday.
