'Disturbing' but not illegal: Prosecutor finds no violation in stop of Petersburg soldier

An attorney for the Petersburg resident who was pepper-sprayed and manhandled two years ago during a traffic stop by a police officer in Windsor says a special prosecutor's opinion that no laws were broken during the stop should have no bearing on the federal lawsuit he has filed on his client's behalf

A letter from Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell was released this week where the prosecutor called the optics of the stop "very disturbing and frankly unsettling" but nonetheless was within the parameters of the law. In the video from Dec. 5, 2020, now-former Officer Joe Gutierrez is shown with a weapon and mace pointed in the direction of Caron Nazario, demanding Nazario get out of his vehicle and ultimately pepper-spraying him to force him out.

Richmond attorney Jonathan Arthur said in an email to The Progress-Index that he did not think Bell's decision would affect whether or not the court case moves ahead, but " I have no comment regarding how this may or may not affect the pending federal case apart from that."

Five months after the stop, Arthur and his colleagues at the Richmond firm of Roberts Law filed a federal suit in Norfolk claiming Nazario's constitutional rights were violated. The case has not yet gone to trial, but it has been moved from Norfolk to U.S. District Court in Richmond.

Nazario, a second lieutenant in the Virginia Army National Guard, was heading home to Petersburg on U.S. Route 460 on the night of Dec. 5, 2020 when Windsor Officer Daniel Crocker attempted to pull him over on a license-plate and tinted-window violation. Nazario's legal team claimed their client was trying to find a well-lighted spot to pull over and chose a convenience store in Windsor, a town in Isle of Wight County about 50 miles southeast of Petersburg.

Gutierrez reportedly stopped to assist Crocker, and that was when the events unfolded. Nazario, who was in his Guard uniform, was pepper-sprayed and forced out of the car by Gutierrez, as shown on body-cam video worn by Crocker. He was eventually released, but Gutierrez can be heard on the video telling Nazario to keep quiet about the stop.

An internal investigation by Windsor Police led to Gutierrez's dismissal. Crocker remains on the force.

Related:Windsor police chief 'owns' how soldier's traffic stop unfolded, but doesn't think apology is owed

In the letter to Isle of Wight Commonwealth's Attorney Georgette Phillips, Bell said he felt the matter was more an issue of civil rights rather than actual law violations because Gutierrez repeated commanded Nazario to get out of the vehicle or risk being sprayed.

"Although I find the video very disturbing and frankly unsettling, Gutierrez's use of force to remove Nazario did not violate state law, as he had given multiple commands for Nazario to exit the vehicle," Bell's letter read. "The problematic issue, however, were Gutierrez's statements throughout the entire ordeal, which would lead a reasonable person to wonder whether underlying bias was at the root of how and why Nazario was treated in like manner."

Nazario, a Brooklyn, New York native, is of Black and Latino descent.

Bell, who was appointed special prosecutor after Phillips recused herself, said he was referring the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Virginia's Eastern District to investigate for possible rights violations.

As for when the suit will be heard, Arthur said nothing has been scheduled yet.

"The federal case has not been placed back on the trial docket yet, as we are still waiting on the orders regarding our cross-motions for summary judgment," he said.

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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Prosecutor says laws not broken in traffic stop of Petersburg soldier