RICHMOND, Va. -- Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker said he immediately drew his gun when he pulled over Army Lt. Caron Nazario because he thought Nazario's SUV might be stolen and he had to prepare for unknowns because "you could be waiting to assassinate me."
The officer for the Town of Windsor made those statements during a deposition by Nazario's lawyer.
Nazario sued Crocker and former Windsor Officer Joseph Gutierrez over the traffic stop and accused them of assault and battery, false imprisonment, and illegal search of his vehicle.
Crocker's statements were played by the plaintiff's attorney on day two of the civil trial.
The jury will have to decide if they believe the two officers acted reasonably when they pulled Nazario over. The incident happened back on December 5, 2020, and left Nazario in handcuffs struggling to see after being pepper sprayed. However, he was never arrested or charged.
Nazario took the stand on Monday and finished up his testimony on Tuesday.
His 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."
Nazario concluded by saying how the traffic stop negatively impacted his finances, his career and his mental health. He said he had to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills for mental health treatment and he said he was unable to deploy due to his PTSD and anxiety.
On cross-examination, lawyers for the two officers reiterated that Nazario did not pull over for one mile, did not obey orders from a police officer to get out of his car and was driving with an expired tag.
In Crocker's deposition video, he said he considered the traffic stop a "high-risk" or "felony traffic stop" because the SUV had tinted windows, it was new, it had no license plate and "it wasn't stopping." He said that's why he pulled out a gun as soon as he got out of his car during the traffic stop.
Crocker also said in the video that he "vividly" remembered Nazario smacking him prior to Gutierrez deploying OC spray in Nazario's face, but he acknowledged that the body camera video did not show Nazario smacking him. He also said Gutierrez's statements about Nazario "fixin' to ride the lightning" and how he should be scared were "not consistent" with his training.
Nazario's attorneys also revealed that Gutierrez received a written reprimand from the Town of Windsor Police Department for his actions during the traffic stop, finding he failed to de-escalate the situation.
Nazario's partner and the mother of his child also testified Tuesday.
She talked about how Nazario's demeanor has changed since the incident, stating that he is now very fearful, reluctant to call the police if they are needed, constantly waking in the night having nightmares and is easily triggered.
Through tears, she said he repeatedly watches the video he captured on his phone of the incident and is so overwhelmed by it that he has trouble interacting with his son. She added that it was hard to live with someone who "you don't know what will trigger them," and it feels like she is walking on eggshells around him.
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