We've all been there. You get a new vehicle, the dealer tapes your temporary tag to the back tinted window. You drive off and don't think much about it, but a short while later you get pulled over. That's exactly what happened with Lieutenant Nazario, an active duty service member. What followed next was anything but ordinary. What would you have done in this situation? Driver, roll the window down. Felony traffic >> Stop. Put your hands out the window. Put your hands out the window. Turn the vehicle off. Put your hands out the window. I can't tell. Put your hands out the window and turn the vehicle off. Put your hands out the window. He's not complying, Jeff. Come around your side. Let me see your hands. How many occupants are in the vehicle? What's going on? How many occupants are in your vehicle? It's only myself. Why are your weapons drawn? What's going on? >> Open the door slowly and step out. Open the door. I'm not getting out the vehicle. What's going on? Get out the car. Open the door slowly and get out. What's going on? Get out of the car now. Open the door and get out of the car. Hold still. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold. Keep your hands outside the window. Keep your hands outside the window. >> are right here. What's going on? >> of the car now. >> Get out of the car. What's going on? >> of the car now. Get out of the car now. >> I'm serving this country and this is how I'm treated? You weren't getting out. I'm a veteran too. I know that obey. Get out of the car. What's going on? >> Get out of the car now. What's going on? What's going on is you're fixing to ride the lightning, son. I'm sorry, what? Get out of the car now. >> What's going on? >> Get out of the car now. Get out of the car. >> Sir, just get out the car. Work with us and we'll talk to you. Get out the car. >> You received an order. Obey it. I'm I'm a I'm honestly afraid to get out. Can I >> Yeah, you you should be. Get out. What's going on? What did I do? >> Get out now. >> not committed any crime. You're being stopped for a traffic violation. You're not cooperating. At this point right now, you're under arrest. >> For a traffic >> detained, okay? You're being detained for a traffic violation. >> violation, I do not have to get out the vehicle. You haven't even told me why I'm being stopped. Really? Get your hands Get out of the car now. Get out the car. Get your hands off me, please. Get your hands off me. >> what? Get your hands off me. Get your hands off me. Back up, David. I didn't do anything. Don't do that. >> Sir, get out of the car. >> Don't do that. Get out of the car now. Don't do I'm trying to talk to you. I'm trying to talk to you. Relax. Can you please relax? Can you please relax? Get out of the car right now. Now. >> This is not how you treat a vet uh I'm actively serving this country and this how you're going to treat me? >> an opinion. I didn't do anything. Whoa, hold on. What's going Hold on. Watch it. And your four OC's deployed. Get out of the car. Get out of the car now. This is [ __ ] up. This is [ __ ] up. >> Get out of the car now. Sir, just get out of the car. >> I'm trying to breathe. Get out of the car now. This is [ __ ] up. This is really [ __ ] up. Get out of Get out of the car and get out of the car now and get get get. I I don't even want to reach for my seatbelt. Can you Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. Can you please >> Get out of the car now. Uh Look. Listen. Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. Look, I'm just going to just please >> You're going to do what you're told. Get out of the car. My Look. Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. Look, take your seatbelt off. Look, my hands are out. Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. My hands are out. >> for anything. Don't reach for anything. My hands are out. Please. Please. Look. This is really messed up. My dog is in the back. My dog is choking in the back. Get out of the car. Take your seatbelt off. What is your special department are you? I'm a lieutenant. >> Lieutenant, get out of the car. Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. You may just want to go ahead and get out of the vehicle. You just comply. Get out of the car. I'm reaching for my seatbelt. >> Fine. Take your seatbelt off and get out of the car. Straight onto the ground. Straight onto the ground. Man. Is your commanding officer available? Let's go. Is your commanding officer available? Get on the ground. Get on the ground. >> talk to me about what's going on? Get on the ground or you're getting sprayed again. Get on the ground. >> Can you please talk to me about what's going on? >> Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Now. Can you please talk to me about what's going on? >> on the ground. Can you please talk to me about what's going on? >> You're not Can you please talk to me about what's going on? Why am I being treated like this? Why? >> Cuz you're not cooperating. Get on the ground. Why am I being treated like this? This is really messed up. This is really messed up. >> Come on, sir. Sir, what Just Just work with us. >> This is [ __ ] up. Sir. This is [ __ ] up. Sir. This is [ __ ] up. You know this is [ __ ] up. >> Lie on the ground. Just lie flat. Lie flat for me, sir. You know this is [ __ ] up. Sir, lie flat. Lie flat. This is [ __ ] up. I can't [ __ ] believe I'm being treated like this. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Right there. Right there. What's that? It's gum. What the [ __ ] Get on the ground. >> It's gum. >> Sir, sir, can you just work with us? Can I Just work with us. Lay down flat. >> Hold on. Lay down flat. Lay down flat. Sir. Lay down or you're going to get tased. Lay down or you're going to get tased. This is [ __ ] up. Lay down or you're going to get tased. This is [ __ ] up. Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. >> This is [ __ ] up. This is [ __ ] up. I agree. All you had to do was listen. All right. Paging 3. You want to be in the custody. This is [ __ ] up. Can you open up the window for my dog? I hear him choking. Can you open up the window, please? >> Yes. Yes, we will. Stand up, all right. This is [ __ ] up. Is there any weapons on you, sir? No, sir. Okay. Any weapons in the vehicle? Yes. Okay. What kind and where are they at? What kind of dog you got? He's a mix. He's a service animal. Why didn't you do what we asked, sir? Why didn't you do what we asked? >> complying, man. I had my No, you weren't. You were not. My partner put his blue lights on. Yes. >> You didn't stop. I was pulling over to a well-lit area for my safety and yours. I have respect for law enforcement. >> No, you don't. No, you don't. No. Wrong answer, sir. If you did, we would not be in this situation right now. Can I get some water, please? >> Absolutely. Sit Sit right on this curb right here. Okay. Turn around. Come sit on this curb. Backwards. Backwards. Can I Can I get some water? Can you open up the window for my dog, dude? >> him. I got him already. He's choking. I got him already. >> We already opened it. I'm going to go grab a bottle of water. All right, Jeff. You good with that? Yeah. Sit on the curb. I got a bottle of water. Do you want another one? If so, just let me know. I'll get That'll be okay for now. Thank you. I know. Why did you stop? Why did you stop? It was a simple traffic stop. It's dark over there. Those areas are dark. I did not feel comfortable. Those areas are dark. All right. Hold on. I'll get you a couple of water for you. You want to You sprayed it on my face. It's It's going to make it worse. You know that, right? >> So, if it's going to make it worse, don't do it then. Yeah, it's going to reactivate it and make it worse. They're right here. Where are the medics? They're here. I Wait. I I need them to talk to me. What's What's going on? >> you. What's up, man? What can you do to I didn't do I didn't commit any crime. I'm leaving tonight. I'm not going to jail. I need something to be done for my eyes. Nothing I can do to help you with your eyes. Wipe my face. Can you do something? It is easy to get out and we have told him to get out. Just keep your handcuffs on for their safety. Until they can figure out what's up or why you were going to stop for them, they're probably going to leave you alone. >> a dark area. I pulled over to a well-lit place. >> That's fine. You didn't tell him that. I just told I told him that and that's why I don't understand why I'm feeling this way. How do you say your last name? Nazario. Okay, Mr. Nazario. I know this doesn't make a lot of sense to you, but the more that you blink, it's you're just going to cause your eyes to tear and it's going to get that burning out, okay? So, blink for me. >> understand what he's saying? >> The more that you blink your eyes, it's going to cause tears. >> will tear up. Your natural tears as saline >> Can I please blow my nose? Can you do something? Go ahead. Let it out. That'll help. Wipe my nose. Nazario. do you have any uh uh Okay. You taking your medication regularly? No. Are you allergic to anything? I got that. I got that. Can you please take the cuffs off me? There's nothing going on. There's nothing wrong. Come on. No, obviously there is. You wouldn't comply with us. I asked you to get out of the car. And you refused. You said, "No, I'm not getting out of the car." I was asking what was going on. My hands are out the window. >> told you it was a traffic stop, and you refused to comply. So, hold on. Before we get to that, my medics are still here. You still need my medics? Yes, definitely. Let them stay here. We'll stand by, man. We'll stand here as long as you need us. So, that's About how long does this take to to wear off? You just come out of rookie school? How long does pepper spray activate? It'll take about 20 minutes, man. 20, 30 minutes. It's just the >> I'm telling you, I know it doesn't make sense, but the more you blink, the better it's going to be. I didn't believe the guys when they told me, either, okay? But, the more you blink, the better it's going to get. All right. They go They go through this stuff every >> me very anxious. Can you please take the cuffs off me, please? I need to No. I need to relax. Okay. If we If we had the finest, then yeah, I mean I did not fight for nothing. You Can you adjust this, please? Can my wrist feel better, please? >> Take a breath. Please. When I take your arms out, do not pull away, okay? >> going to pull away. I'm just asking you to please adjust them. I'm going to work with you as much as you'll work with me. My grandmother is a retired NYPD. All right. What do you want to do with this hand? I want to twist it around this way, yeah. All right. Can you see Can you twist it inside just a little bit, please? Where is your ID, sir? I believe it's in this uh this shoulder pocket. Yeah? Yes. Do you Do you feel something rectangular? Yeah. Where are you stationed at, Mr. Rosario? Uh I'm coming from um What do you got in your pocket? Is it a zipper or a zipper? Okay. I'm coming from a medical event. I'm a medical officer. All right. I'll put your wallet back in here, okay? >> do? Exercise today? >> Do you have We're We're We're preparing We're We're preparing for a deployment. So, um Thank you. Let me see your military ID. Can you? Yes, sir. Sure. Where are you stationed? I can't see [ __ ] all day, and I can't see [ __ ] without my eyes. You got Uh I'll get I'll get that for you in a minute. That's all I was going to do. I'll give you the stuff out of the car when I talk to you. We'd have been done by now. For this simple traffic stop. Mr. Rosario, look. You want to stop in a well-lit area because you're nervous. Yes. The whole BLM movement, you're probably nervous and all that. They feel the same way. They're nervous for their jobs and their lives. I get where you're coming from. They get where you're coming from. But, let's let's let this pepper spray kind of wear off and stuff, and then just just have an intelligent conversation with them. Driving all the way down over here? First of all, you passed a well-lit parking lot there, but look, hey. You felt Hold on. You felt uncomfortable here, okay? Coming here was not the problem. That was not the problem. The problem is when you refused to get out of the car. Okay? You refused to get out of the car. Had you When you When you got here, and you stepped out of the car, I can promise you this would have been over by now. It'd have been over. You'd be gone. Look, like he said, he's a vet. He don't want to get you in no trouble. You okay, Mr. Rosario? That's it, right? Wearing off a little bit now? Yes. I can see a little better. Okay. Very good. So, we're progressing. We're getting there. Where you stationed at? I'm heading to Petersburg right now. Um checking on some family stuff. I got a bunch of gear in the vehicle. I'm I'm transferring units right now. My vehicle's loaded up with gear. Okay. Well, specifically, he was asking about weapons. What kind of weapons do you I got it. It's right there. I'm sure he saw it already. All right. You got a handgun or you got a long gun? >> a handgun. No long gun? I got it. Hey. Yeah. He came back with it. Want a firearm? X-ray Delta 996874 XD996874 Tempo. Where you stationed? You know? If you have your orders here. All right. We're We're transferring to Guantanamo Bay right now. One unit um Portsmouth to Norfolk. They haven't told you where your next deployment is? We're going to We're being split up. I don't know if I'm going to be in Kuwait or Afghanistan. And I'm at the the uh Going to sand box. I'm going to the mission. All right. Do you have no chest pain or shortness of breath? And is my dog okay? Yes, sir. You all right if I pop the trunk? Yes, sir. Hey, pop. Hey, pop. Little blue nose? Yes. Orange zones. Thank you. Carry your dog with you on deployment or stay with family? Um I'm making arrangements for that now. If I could, I would take them. But, that's my kid. I would try to do this if you're going to have to sit on your bumper right there, okay? I don't want you to fall down. I don't want you to fall down. If you can just get relaxed right there. Sir, what happened? Why wouldn't you comply? I looked out the mirror, and I saw guns drawn. I put my hands out. And we told you we identified ourselves and told you to step out of the vehicle, and you wouldn't. All you had to do was comply, and we'd have been done by now, okay? Just trust me. As far as driving All right, Mr. Rosario. So, back Let's go all the way back to square one, okay? I turned around and I was on your Food Lion. I actually came out of Cost Plus, and I came up behind you. I saw you before you turned. >> And you had no tags displayed. I I see it, but part of the law, it has to be in the license plate bracket. I understand it's paper, and I understand why it's there. But, at that time, I had no I I didn't know that you had a vehicle registration till I approached your car. And at that point, I was too busy dealing with you to deal with the tag. You want me to wipe your eyes? Okay. So, look. All this was going to be was, "Hey, man. I stopped you. You didn't have a tag. You got your driver's license." I'd have ran you, and you'd have been on your way, okay? What would have been a 2-minute traffic stop turned into all this? As I was telling him, you know, I've pulled over to well-lit areas before, and I've never looked out the window and saw a gun blazing immediately. So, the So, the reason we did that is because we followed you for a mile and a half with lights and sirens on, and you didn't pull over. I understand you want to get to a well-lit area a well-lit area. I get that. But, when we follow you that long, look at Look at the climate this day. And against everybody. Against us, against y'all. You know what I mean? Yeah. I'm not out to hurt you, and I know you don't want to hurt me. That's not what it's about. What it's about is making sure that everybody goes home at the end of the day. So, when you don't stop, and you continue to proceed, our suspicions are raised. What's going on in the car? What don't you want us to see? So, you pull into here, and if you would have just complied with the simple commands that we were giving you originally, it would have been done and over with, and you would have got back in your car, and you'd have been gone by now. But, you wouldn't get out the car. You wouldn't comply. It was It just looking out the mirror and seeing your guns out already. That's why I was asking like, "What's What's going on?" I was just And then and not to mention you have just not to mention I know you weren't reaching, but not to mention you had a gun at your right leg. You get our perspective though on the safety issue for us as well? You get that? Yeah, I I do. I do and that's why I put my hands out. I was just asking, "What do you >> And when you when you put your hands out they were like this outside the window. How do we know nothing's in your hands?" And I was telling you stick your hands out, stick your hands out, stick your hands out. Then I was having you step out, you wouldn't do any of it. You following what I'm saying? Okay? So this can go one or two ways, okay? I I don't want to hem you up. I'm going to be straight up with you. You're good, man. You've made lieutenant in the army. How hard was that? That wasn't an easy task, was it? >> No, it wasn't. And and what would this What would this do to your career? It would hurt it. And I'm in the I'm in the middle of getting promoted right now anyway, so yeah. To what? Captain or first lieutenant? Um to first lieutenant. Okay. So you And then when we get you out of the car, we have to wrestle with you on the ground just to get your hands behind your back just to put you in cuffs just for a safety matter. You following where we're at? Yeah. I mean what what would you do if you came across that overseas, you know? If you were infantry and you came across that. You following me? Yeah. You see where we're coming from? I'm trying to work with you as much as I can. I would have never wanted Like I said, it would have been a simple you know, "Hey, I see your tag now. You know, make sure you get it displayed on in the proper spot." And you'd have been moving on with your day and I'd have been moving on with mine. But here we are. How's your eyes doing with the mace? Better. Can I keep calling you lieutenant? I told you I'm a veteran. I respect rank, okay? I was I was a I was a corporal in the Marine Corps. I respect rank. However, I do have a job to do, okay? I just talked to my chief of police. You asked for a superior. He's off obviously right now. Saturday. I called him, he came out, talked. Here's how he what I was thinking. I told him what I wanted to do. He said that's no problem. Two ways we can handle this. We can either sit here with you until you get your eyes back where you can see and I mean at a good distance you're safe to drive, okay? And you're going down the road. Go do your deployment. Go continue serving my country, which I respect and I thank you for, okay? Or we can push the issue, write you tickets for no uh license plate displayed and for resisting or not resisting or obstructing of justice. I don't even want to go that route because that route makes the army get involved. And I know how they are. The You don't know this. The army He'll He'll vouch for it. Um cuz he's been in and he's got friends that are legal officers, I know. The army Military's the only place where your eyes, okay? The military's the only place where double jeopardy exists legally. Because whatever we do to him, we do to him, the army can come around and jam him for the same thing. I don't want to see that happen. You're obviously a second lieutenant. You ain't been in very long. But if you plan on making this a career or even 6 years or whatever, it's up to you. I don't care. There's no need getting this on your record. I don't want it on your record. However, this is how I'm going to do you. If you want to fight it and argue I mean I and I I don't mean to be disrespectful, okay? I mean you have that right as a citizen. If that's what you want, we'll charge you, have you go to court, notify the command you are or we can take the take time out of our night, which is not a problem cuz we get we're being paid to take care of people, okay? We'll sit here with you, get your eyes back, you and what's your dog's name? Smoke. Smoke? It's a bad ass name for a bad ass dog. Um you and Smoke can get on down the road, okay? It's totally up to you. What do you want to do? I got no problem. I'll sit here with you till you get your eyes back and send you on down the road. Okay? I don't want to charge you. I will. It's my job. I don't want to. The chief's giving me discretion on how to handle it. He's like, "These are the two choices." I said, "That's what I was thinking. That's what I want to do." He's like, "No problem. We can either let it go, help him out, get his eyes back and get him on down the road so the army doesn't get involved or we can charge you and then it's a big hassle for you." It doesn't change my life one way or the other way. You see what I'm saying? It's not about me. This is about you. What you want to do. If If you want to just chill, let this go and no charges filed, we'll take the handcuffs off, we'll get you a bottle of water to drink on and sit here until you feel comfortable driving. All right? Mhm. Or the other option is we write the summons, just charge you have And we by then we have no choice. We have to notify your command. Again, I'm not I don't have to be an ass. I'm not trying to be threatening. Uh I say that cuz that's just the way it is, okay? I just talked to my boss. Those are the two choices that he gave me. Personally, as a veteran who served, okay? I did my I did 6 years in the Marine Corps. My wife's a retired sailor. She retired as a E-8 in the Navy, okay? I don't want to see you get jammed up by the army. Okay? I don't want to see it happen. You need to spit. Just let us know. Go ahead and spit. Cuz I We've both been sprayed, so we know what it's like. It sucks. If you need to spit, go ahead and spit. You're not going to offend us. Okay. All right. Um What do you want to do, lieutenant? I'll let you tell me cuz I mean no nobody's going to actually charge you. It's So you No, I'm not going to actually do I understand that. However, I have to make that option available to you, right? If you I mean I I mean I have to. So here's what I want to do. Especially as as as calm as you've been since everything ended, I'm going to take the handcuffs off, let you sit here with Smoke. We'll sit here and wait with you. Let your eyes come back, okay? Cuz it's going to take It takes you anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes depending on how much actually got in the eyeball itself before you can really see well enough to drive especially at night, okay? We'll sit here with you. And then we'll get you on down the road. And the command won't know nothing about it. All right? I have I do have a good rapport with my command, so I wouldn't feel right not talking to nobody. >> Okay. That's totally up to you. I'll put it this way then for you. They're going to hear from you. They will not hear from us. I'll give you that much respect, okay? Because I understand I I told you I was in for 6 years. It's always better for the command to hear it from the person you than somebody else. Especially the That's never a good thing. You got to let them know what's going on. I want to talk to you a little bit now. I get it, okay? I get the the climate we're in right now. I get it, okay? The climate we're in, the what the media's dealing with, the race relations between minorities and law enforcement. I get it, okay? So like I told you, as far as you not stopping because you weren't comfortable and you wanted a well-lit spot, we can have that happen to all of us. It happens to me a lot. And it's good. I would say 80% of the time, not always, 80% of the time it's a minority. And I told you that. Officer Joe Gutierrez was released from the force following this incident.