Army officer during traffic stop Windsor police files appeal

In this image taken from Windsor, Virginia, police video, a police officer uses a spray agent on Caron Nazario on December 20, 2020, in Windsor, Virginia. Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, pursued two Virginia police officers during a traffic stop during which he said the officers drew their guns and pointed them at him while he was in uniform. Caron Nazario claims her constitutional rights were violated by the traffic stop in the town of Windsor in December. (Windsor Police via AP)

WINDSOR, Va. (WAVY) — The U.S. Army lieutenant who chased two Windsor police officers after he was pepper-sprayed during a traffic stop in 2020 has filed a new appeal.

This happens a little over a year later Lt. Caron Nazario’s request for a new trial was denied.

Nazario, who claimed his constitutional rights were violated by the two officers during the December 2020 stop, filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages. However, he was awarded only $3,685, including $1 in nominal damages “in order to vindicate his rights under the U.S. Constitution,” by a Richmond jury that most of the time, they sided with law enforcement.

In his call Filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Nazario claims the district court erred in its sentencing rulings by holding that the officers had probable cause to commit three crimes: eluding, obstructing to justice and non-obedience to an order of a conservator. of the peace under the Code of Virginia.

“Nazario maintains that these erroneous probable cause rulings tainted not only other portions of the court’s summary judgments, but also the jury’s instructions,” the appeal states. “It is important to note that Nazario does not challenge the court’s ruling that the officers had probable cause to stop him for a traffic violation – failure to properly display a license plate under Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-715 and § 46.2-716.

You can read the full appeal here.