A viral bodycam video recently surfaced of Army Lieutenant Caron Nazario, 27, being pulled over by police in Windsor, Virginia and held at gunpoint after being asked to exit the vehicle. In the video, Nazario is clearly terrified of what the officers might do, telling them, "I've not committed any crime, I'm honestly afraid to get out." One of the two officers responds, telling him, "Yeah dude, you should be." Nazario continues to ask why he is being pulled over while being pepper-sprayed and kicked by officers for "not cooperating."
Nazario was later threatened by the police to stay quiet out of fear of the story surfacing. He refused and is now suing the police department. Nazario’s attorney, Jonathan Arthur, said that Nazario knew something bad would happen to him if he made one wrong move, stating, "To unbuckle his seatbelt, to do anything, any misstep — he was afraid that they were going to kill him. What prompted him to file is the need to stop this conduct. The need to hold these two officers accountable and make sure they cannot do it again."
Late Sunday night, it was announced that one of the two officers responsible for the situation has been fired, and the Virginia governor has launched a full investigation into the traffic stop. According to the statement, Windsor police have stated that the department policy for use of force was not followed during this “high-risk traffic stop.” According to Nazario, he was not evading officers, but rather attempting to stop in a well-lit area.
Watch the original video below.
