An Army lieutenant pepper-sprayed by Virginia police during a traffic stop was awarded $3,600 - CNN

CNN  — 

A US Army serviceman who was pepper sprayed, pushed to the crushed and handcuffed by Windsor, Virginia, constabulary officers during a 2020 postulation halt was awarded astir $3,600 Tuesday successful a suit that was seeking $1 cardinal successful compensatory damages.

Second Lt. Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, filed the suit successful 2021 claiming that the 2 constabulary officers violated his rights guaranteed nether the First and Fourth Amendments during the postulation stop.

On Tuesday, Nazario was awarded $2,685 successful compensation for damages aft a assemblage determined erstwhile Windsor constabulary serviceman Joe Gutierrez assaulted the Army officer. The assemblage besides determined that Officer Daniel Crocker indispensable wage $1,000 successful punitive damages for an amerciable hunt of his vehicle, tribunal documents show.

The assemblage nevertheless mostly sided with the officers, uncovering Nazario didn’t beryllium different allegations successful the suit, specified arsenic mendacious imprisonment.

“We bash deliberation that determination are appealable issues successful this case, and we volition instrumentality it up with the due forum,” Nazario’s lawyer, Jonathan Arthur, told CNN affiliate WTVR extracurricular the courthouse Tuesday.

Footage of the December 5, 2020, postulation halt – which was captured by respective cameras, including some officers’ assemblage cameras and Nazario’s telephone – shows Nazario, who was successful uniform, having guns pointed astatine him, being pepper-sprayed 4 times, wrestled to the crushed and handcuffed.

The officers yet released Nazario and nary charges were filed against him.

Crocker initiated the postulation halt aft seeing a acheronian SUV “with acheronian tinted windows” and nary licence plate, constabulary reports show. Nazario’s suit said the conveyance was caller and helium didn’t person imperishable plates yet, but helium had “cardboard impermanent plates” taped to the wrong of the rear window.

In court, lawyers for the officers argued Nazario continued driving for 1.1 miles aft Crocker initiated his lights and sirens and did not propulsion implicit astatine a fig of imaginable locations, WTVR reported.

Nazario’s suit said helium wanted to halt successful a safe, well-lit spot and pulled implicit astatine a state presumption successful Windsor, which is astir 30 miles westbound of Norfolk.

Gutierrez was fired successful 2021 pursuing an probe into the usage of unit during the incidental and Crocker remains connected the force.

An lawyer for Crocker commended the jury’s determination Tuesday.

“Thank you for a occupation good done, well-reasoned. They took a batch of clip with this decision. They took fractional a time connected Friday, they took the amended portion of the time today,” Richard Matthews, an lawyer who represented Crocker, told WTVR.

Last year, Special Prosecutor and Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell determined no charges should beryllium filed against the officers successful authorities tribunal but formally referred the lawsuit to the US Attorney’s Office for a national civilian rights investigation.