Police in the small town of Windsor, Virginia, have found themselves in the national spotlight after they sued an Army officer, who is Black and Latino, after a traffic stop in December.
In body camera and cellphone video, Caron Nazario, Army Chief of Staff, can still be seen in his uniform with his hands visible at the window of his new car.
“I did not commit any crime,” Nazario said.
When two Windsor police officers, with guns drawn, ordered him to get out, he said, “I’m honestly scared to get out.”
“Yes dude, you must be,” replied one officer.
In the video, Nazario repeatedly asks why he was pulled over, and one of the two officers sprays pepper and kicks him. He is then handcuffed while police search his car.
Nazario asks, “Why am I being treated like this? Why?”
“Because you are not cooperating,” an officer replied.
Attorney Jonathan Arthur, who is representing Nazario in a lawsuit filed against the two officers earlier this month, said he feared he would be harmed if he took his hands out of sight.
“To loosen his seat belt, do anything, or make any faulty mistake – he was afraid they would kill him,” Arthur said.
The incident report states that Nazario was initially pulled over because he did not display a label on his SUV, but the temporary dealer plate is visible in the body’s camera camera video.
Nazario was released without charge.
“What prompted him to file is the need to stop this behavior,” Arthur said. “The need to hold these two officers accountable and make sure they can not do it again.”
Windsor police did not respond to a CBS News request for comment.