Virginia Officer Fired After Army Lieutenant Is Pepper Sprayed & Held At Gunpoint

By now we know you all have seen the disturbing body camera footage of U.S. Army Lieutenant Caron Nazario being held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed by two Virginia police officers last December. Now one of the officers involved in the illegal traffic stop has been fired for their actions during the incident. According to ABC News, on Sunday officials announced that Officer Joe Gutierrez was fired. After an internal investigation, it was determined that Gutierrez did not follow the department’s policy, leading to his termination. There has not been an update on Daniel Crocker, who was the other officer involved in the December 5th incident. However, the department said they are requiring added training.

The town of Windsor, Virginia said in a statement, “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. 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.” As previously reported, Lieutenant Caron Nazario is suing both officers for the incident.