Residents condemn officers’ actions in viral video
Response to incident questioned at town meeting in Windsor
Black and white. For and against. More than a dozen Windsor area residents spoke out Tuesday night at the first town council meeting since police body cam videos of a controversial traffic stop of a minority Army lieutenant went viral and forced the tiny municipality into the national spotlight.
Mayor Glyn Willis was the only town official who addressed the Dec. 5 incident during the meeting, and his remarks were brief. He said the town’s leaders continue to support the police department, its chief, and the officer who initiated the traffic stop. The other involved officer was fired.
Police Chief Rodney “Dan” Riddle did not attend the meeting, and a report he’d been scheduled to deliver was not offered. The sheriff for Isle of Wight County, however, and several deputies were there, as well as some state troopers.
The mayor thanked those who came to the podium to speak. He also talked of the “many mixed emotions” among residents since the town became the focus of headlines and newscasts.
At the end of the meeting, the council went into a closed session to discuss “police performance issues” and possible litigation resulting from the department’s actions. That discussion lasted a couple hours.
The traffic stop occurred on U.S. Route 460, the town’s main thoroughfare. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario was driving home in his new Chevrolet Tahoe when Windsor police Officer Daniel Crocker radioed he was pulling the SUV over for tinted windows and not having a rear license plate.
Crocker also reported the driver was “eluding” him and that he considered it a felony, high-risk traffic stop, even though in a report he filed later, he said the vehicle slowed once he turned on his flashing lights.
Officer Joe Gutierrez heard Crocker’s call and joined him. Both officers approached the SUV with guns drawn. Gutierrez threatened and pepper sprayed Nazario repeatedly after the 27-year-old said he was scared to step out and ignored commands to open the door.
A federal lawsuit Nazario filed earlier this month against the officers claims Nazario did have a license plate on his Tahoe. It was a temporary plate, the lawsuit stated, taped to the inside of the rear window and visible on the body cam video.
It also says Nazario, who is Black and Latino, slowed
when he saw the officer signal for him to pull over, flipped on his turn signal and then waited until he found a well-lit spot on the dark roadway before stopping.
On Sunday, Town Manager William Saunders announced Gutierrez had been fired, but said Crocker was still a member of the police force.
Some of speakers who addressed the all-white council at Tuesday’s meeting were emotional, such as Judith Dempsey, a Black woman who has lived in Windsor for about 20 years.
“It made me ashamed of the town that I grew to love,” Dempsey said. “I’m hurt, Windsor.”
Dempsey and several other speakers were especially angry that the town had kept quiet about what happened for months and
waited until the videos went viral to fire Gutierrez. Many called for Crocker to be fired, too.
“You guys waited to Sunday to fire that man after what he did?” Dempsey asked. “And where’s the other one? Still on the payroll.”
Avery Barnard, 26, of Chesapeake, said he drives through Windsor frequently for work. Barnard is white, but said several of his co-workers are Black and he now worries about them driving through the area.
He believes the town put the public at risk by not acting sooner to fire Gutierrez and for continuing to employ Crocker.
“He’d (Gutierrez) would still be on the force now if this hadn’t gone viral,” Barnard said.
Two speakers, however,
offered their support for Crocker, as well as the council and the town’s staff.
Volpe Boykin, a native of Windsor and a retired Norfolk police supervisor, read a statement from the Southern Central Isle of Wight Citizen Group stating the group agreed with the town’s decisions on the matter so far and supported Crocker’s continued employment.
Christine Wingard also spoke in favor of town leaders and the police department. She was especially dismayed to hear some officials had received death threats since the videos became public.
“My biggest concern right now is all the hatred that is pouring into our county and into our town,” Wingard said.
Town Attorney Fred Taylor said the council will
start holding weekly work sessions to discuss issues raised by the traffic stop, as well as other town business. The council typically only meets once a month.
Officials also plan to post all body cam footage related to Nazario — including a prior traffic stop involving him — on the town’s website, Taylor said. That incident occurred a month before and was handled by a different Windsor police officer, he said.
Online court records show Nazario was charged Nov. 7 with driving 54 in a 35 mph zone. Taylor said Nazario was driving the same SUV with temporary tags in that incident.