PITTERSBURG, Virginia – While he said he felt bad about how the traffic disruptions unfolded late last year, the city sheriff where A black and Latin military officer from Petersburg, Virginia, was intercepted by two of his officers He said Wednesday that he did not think the soldier needed to A formal apology.
In response, Lt. Karon Nazario’s legal team in the Army said that Windsor Police Chief Rodney Riedel “continues to” continue a false version “of the case and blames his client for initiating it. They said the station’s video “shows otherwise” that their client was only compliant.
“I’ll own what we did,” said Riedel of stopping by at a news conference Wednesday in White County, Virginia, where Nazario was stopped last December while he was on his way home. “My comrades missed opportunities to verbally de-escalate this matter and change this outcome.”
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When asked by a reporter if Nazario owed an apology for this, Riedel replied, “I don’t think so,” adding that he wished that “the driver had complied much earlier.”
A video of the traffic situation at a BP gas station in Windsor, Virginia – about 50 miles southeast of Petersburg – shows officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, with towed rifles, ordering Nazario out of his car after he’s stopped by allegedly having no breech. License mark. Nazario was returning to Petersburg after a mission.
Guterres, who is closest to Nazario in the video, repeatedly tells Nazario to get out while Nazario repeatedly asks why he has been stopped.
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At one point, Gutierrez reached an electroshock and threatened Nazario with “riding the lightning,” a term used for electrocution. Later he sprayed Nazario on his face with oleoresin pepper, commonly known as pepper spray.
Nazario was finally pulled from the car and handcuffed on the ground. Ultimately, the officers noticed that the rear decal was affixed to the rear windshield from the inside, and let it go. According to the video, they asked Nazario to remain silent about the halt, under the threat of facing further charges.
It happened on December 5, 2020. Earlier this month, Nazario’s attorney filed a $ 1 million lawsuit against the officers in Norfolk Federal Court.
Gutierrez, a field training officer for the seven-man Windsor Police Department, It was launched after an internal investigation By section. Crocker, a native of Windsor and a rising force, was disciplined because Riddell said in the video, he noticed Crocker was trying to defuse the tension.
“If you watch the video, Officer Crocker makes an effort to verbally calm the situation when he changes his tone, tone and behavior,” Riddle said, adding that he had known Crocker since he was 14. “This is someone who has the potential to be a cop who sees, understands what is important.”
Both Virginia State Police and the FBI are conducting outside investigations into the traffic situation.
As for Gutierrez, Riedel said the decision to expel him was a mixture of the findings of the investigation in addition to what the president saw in the video. “As a result of all these things, I lost my faith in him so he could effectively engage this community,” said Riedel.
While Riddle did not condone the way the situation was done in the video, Riddle defended the way the officers initially handled the events that led to the halt. Nazario claims in his lawsuit that he did not stop immediately when he saw the police lights because he was looking for good lighting to get to where everyone would be safe.
“There were things that stopped traffic, and there were some actions that Mr. Nazario took that raised red flags for these officers based on their training,” Riedel said. “Maybe they were dealing with something beyond just a regular pause. These officers initially reacted relatively well in my opinion.”
The president said he did not speak to Nazario or his attorney about the accident, adding that he was glad no one was seriously injured at the station.
Nazario’s legal team begged to disagree.
“OC spray hurts,” two attorneys Jonathan Arthur and Andrew Bodo said in a statement issued by their office. “Being threatened with riding lightning” hurts. You were told you should be afraid to follow police orders it hurts. “
Riedel described the ensuing actions as a “teachable moment” in how not to handle such issues in a calm manner. “It was inappropriate and created undue fear in Mr. Nazario,” Riedel said.
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At one point in the video, Nazario was heard saying that he was “afraid” to get out. Gutierrez replied: “You should be.”
“It was unforgivable,” Riedel said of Gutierrez’s comment.
Nazario’s lawyers assert that their client obeyed the officers’ request to stop by using the turn signal to show that he was looking for a safe place to stop. They also said that Nazario quickly responded to each of the orders.
“The officers’ decision not to pass on information to assuage Lieutenant Nazario’s reasonable fear of confronting weapons, despite Lieutenant Nazario’s compliance,” said Arthur and Boudouh, “the unilateral escalation of this interaction continued.”
“The commander continues the false narrative and blames the victim,” they said. He claimed that Second Lieutenant Nazario did not comply. The video shows otherwise.
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