The Town of Windsor has issued a statement in regards to a traffic stop incident involving an Army Lieutenant. Officials say as a result of the incident, one of the officers was fired.
One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a Black Army officer during a traffic stop has since been fired, a Virginia town announced late Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation into the case.
VSP to investigate after Army lieutenant threatened, pepper-sprayed by Va. officers
One officer has since been fired, according to a statement from the Town of Windsor
GRAPHIC: Lawsuit filed over Va. police stop, pepper spray seen in body cam footage By Hannah Eason | April 11, 2021 at 6:13 PM EDT - Updated April 12 at 9:30 AM
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT & AP) - Gov. Northam on Sunday condemned a traffic stop that led to a US Army officer being pepper-sprayed by two Virginia police officers, sparking a lawsuit and national attention.
The lawsuit states officers in Windsor, Virginia, drew their guns, pointed them at Lieutenant Caron Nazario and used a slang term to suggest he was facing execution during a traffic stop in December. After several statements, one of the officers pepper-sprayed Nazario, who is Black and Latino.
NPR screenshot / Windsor Police Department body camera footage
Originally published on April 12, 2021 8:25 am
Updated April 11, 2021 at 10:28 PM ET
When a patrol car activated its siren and emergency lights behind Caron Nazario in December, the Army lieutenant says he was reluctant to immediately pull over. That stretch of road, just west of Norfolk, Va., was dark, and there didn t seem to be anywhere to stop safely.
So Nazario, who is Black and Latino, slowed down, put his blinker on, and about a mile down the road pulled over at a well-lit BP gas station, according to a federal lawsuit he filed earlier this month. At that point, two officers approached Nazario, guns drawn, yelling at him to get out of the car.