The Virginia Attorney General said Monday that he is investigating whether there is an “illegal pattern or behavior” at the Windsor Police Department after a U.S. Army uniform was detained with a gun and pepper sprayed by his officers. is.
Two members of the police station stopped Caron Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps, in December, during which one of the officers, Joe Gutierrez, threatened Lieutenant Nazario before cheating on him with pepper spray and pushing him to the ground. , according to the camera footage of the episode.
The actions of mr. Gutierrez was “horrific” and “dangerous,” Attorney General Mark Herring said in an interview with CNN on Monday night.
His office has been requesting records from the Windsor Police Department since about a decade as part of its investigation into “whether there was a pattern of misconduct by the police specifically or wider in the department,” Mr. Herring said. said.
“If that’s the case,” he said, “we need to do more work to make sure it never happens again.”
Mr. Gutierrez was fired after police conducted an internal investigation into the episode and determined he was not following the department’s policies, the city said in a statement Sunday.
Herring launched an investigation by Virginia state police, adding that it was important to also have an “independent, non-affiliated agency to fully investigate and ensure there is liability.”
The inquiry by the Attorney General’s Office sought to determine whether ‘this is an isolated incident’ or whether there had been previous allegations of ‘unconstitutional policing or brutality’ by the officers or the department, Mr. Herring, a Democrat who is running, said for re-election this year.
The Attorney General’s Office requested the staff records for the two officers involved in the traffic jam, as well as records of any complaints lodged with the department over the past ten years regarding the use of force, traffic jams or ‘treatment based on ras’ was. , color and / or national origin, ”according to a letter sent to Police Chief Rodney Daniel Riddle on Monday.
A Chief Riddle representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city said in its earlier statement that the delivery had led to disciplinary action and “departmental requirements for additional training”, and that Windsor “continues to provide information regarding this event in its commitment to openness.”
Lieutenant Nazario this month filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, accusing officers of illegally searching his car, using excessive force and violating his rights under the First Amendment. The case claims $ 1 million in damages.
In footage of the traffic stop, Lieutenant Nazario tells officers: ‘I serve this country and that’s how I’m treated. What is happening?”
Mr. Gutierrez shouts, “What’s going on is that you want to drive the lightning, boy.”
In the case, Lieutenant Nazario also accused the officers of threatening his military career with destroying him by accusing him of various crimes if he complained about their behavior.
Mr Gutierrez told Lieutenant Nazario that the police chief had given him the discretion to let him go, as long as the lieutenant did not ‘fight and fight’. Mr. Gutierrez also threatened to write a summons if Lieutenant Nazario did not ‘cold’ over the stop, and that the army would be warned if a summons was written. Lieutenant Nazario said he would warn his supervisors about what happened.
Army Sergeant Major Michael Grinston said in a tweet On Monday, he was proud of Lieutenant Nazario, who he said “represented himself and our army well through his calm, professional response to the situation.”
In his interview with CNN, Mr. Herring said that “Lieutenant Nazario was the calmest – the most responsible.”