Politics
Who is Daniel Crocker from Windsor police?
WINDSOR police officer’s Daniel Crocker and Joe Gutierrez were involved in a controversial traffic stop of Caron Mazario – a Black Army medical Corps officer – back in December 2020.
Mazario was threatened with execution at gunpoint before being pepper-sprayed by Gutierrez.
Windsor police officer Daniel Crocker[/caption]
Who is Daniel Crocker from Windsor police?
Crocker and Gutierrez were involved in a “high-risk traffic stop” when they pulled over Army medic officer Mazario in Norfolk, Virginia, in December 2020.
Nazario filed a lawsuit on April 2, suing both Crocker and Gutierrez alleging common law assaults, battery and imprisonment.
The filing also claims Nazario’s fourth amendment rights were also broken.
On December 5, Crocker attempted to stop Nazario, who was driving a new 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe with a temporary plate “taped to the inside of the rear window of the vehicle,” according to the filing.
Crocker seen pointing his gun at Army medical corps officer Caron Mazario[/caption]
The stop was originally for a lack of a rear license plate.
Nazario pulled over at a well-lit BP gas station, and as seen on the body camera footage from Gutierrez, Nazario rolled down his car window and put his hands out the window.
According to the lawsuit, he asked law enforcement what was happening and why they had their guns drawn.
Gutierrez then told Nazario he was “fixin’ to ride the lightning,” an expression for an execution.
The filing said this is around the time the Nazario told the officers he was afraid to get out of the car. Officer Gutierrez responded, “Yeah, you should be.”
Officer Crocker “watched calmly with a bemused smirk on his face” as his fellow officer tried to pull Nazario out of the car.
Former cop Joe Gutierrez[/caption]
When he asked to speak to a supervisor, Gutierrez “without warning, sprayed Nazario with OC spray multiple times in rapid succession.”
After exiting the vehicle, Gutierrez then hit Nazario with “knee-strikes to Nazario’s legs to force an already compliant and blinded Nazario down on his face ostensibly so they could handcuff him.”
What happened to former cop Joe Gutierrez?
On April 11, after the video of Nazario’s arrest was released, Gutierrez was “terminated from his employment”.
In the statement, officials said Gutierrez was fired after it was deemed he’d failed to follow department policy.
“The pursuit and ultimate stop resulted in the use of pepper spray against Lt. Nazario by Officer Gutierrez. As a result of this use of force, Department policy requires an internal investigation to determine the appropriateness of such actions,” the statement began.
Army officer Caron Mazario filed a lawsuit against both Crocker and Gutierrez earlier this month[/caption]
“At the conclusion of this investigation, it was determined that Windsor Police Department policy was not followed. This resulted in disciplinary action … Since that time, Officer Gutierrez was also terminated from his employment.”
Officials continued by insisting the Town of Windsor “prides itself in its small-town charm and the community-wide respect of its Police Department.”
“Due to this, we are saddened for events like this to cast our community in a negative light,” the statement read.
“Rather than deflect criticism, we have addressed these matters with our personnel administratively, we are reaching out to community stakeholders to engage in dialogue, and commit ourselves to additional discussions in the future.”
Officials did not state whether of not Crocker has faced – or will face – any disciplinary actions for his involvement in the incident.
Gutierrez was terminated from the department, while no word has been said about Crocker’s future[/caption]
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What did Virginia Gov Ralph Northam say about the incident?
Over the weekend, Virginia Gov Ralph Northam called for an independent investigation to be conduction into the “disturbing” arrest.
“Our Commonwealth has done important work on police reform, but we must keep working to ensure Virginians are safe during interactions with police, the enforcement of laws is fair and equitable, and people are held accountable,” he said in a statement.
