One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a black US Army officer during a traffic stop has since been fired, a Virginia town announced late on Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation into the case.
The town of Windsor said in a statement that it joined calls from elected state officials, including Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, in requesting an independent investigation by the Virginia State Police into an encounter on Dec. 5 last year in which two Windsor Police Department officers were accused of drawing their guns, pointing them at US Army Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario and “threatening to kill him.”
Nazario, who is black and Latino, was also pepper-sprayed and knocked to the ground by the officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, the lawsuit that he filed against them earlier this month said.
Photo: Windsor Police via Reuters
Nazario said that Gutierrez and Crocker contravened his constitutional rights, with his lawsuit including assault, illegal search and illegal detention.
The two sides in the case dispute what happened, but Crocker wrote in a report that he believed Nazario was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop.”
Attorney Jonathan Arthur told reporters that Nazario was not trying to elude the officer, but was trying to stop in a well-lit area.
Photo: Windsor Police via Reuters
In the statement on Sunday, Windsor officials said that an internal investigation into the use of force was opened at the time and determined that department policy was not followed.
Officials said that disciplinary action was taken and Gutierrez had since been fired.
Officials added that requirements for the entire department to undergo additional training were implemented from January.
“The town of Windsor prides itself in its small-town charm and the community-wide respect of its police department,” the statement said. “Due to this, we are saddened for events like this to cast our community in a negative light.”
“Rather than deflect criticism, we have addressed these matters with our personnel administratively, we are reaching out to community stakeholders to engage in dialogue and commit ourselves to additional discussions in the future,” the statement added.
The statement did not detail any breaches or punishments for the other officer involved in the incident, Daniel Crocker.
Northam wrote on Twitter on Sunday that the encounter in December last year was “disturbing,” adding that he directed the Virginia State Police to review what happened.
“Our commonwealth has done important work on police reform, but we must keep working to ensure that Virginians are safe during interactions with police, the enforcement of laws is fair and equitable and people are held accountable,” Northam said in his statement calling for a review of the officers’ actions.
The Windsor police chief did not respond to messages sent through the police department’s Facebook page over the weekend.
Windsor is about 112km southeast of Richmond.
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