VIDEO: Hercules police shock 21-year-old man with Taser 3x while he was experiencing medical emergency

HERCULES, Calif. - Hercules police used a stun gun three times on a young man who was recovering from a medical emergency – specifically a brain seizure – because he wasn't following the officers' commands to exit his car, body camera video obtained by KTVU shows.

Lawsuit filed

What we know:

Jack Bruce, now 22, suffered puncture wounds from the Taser, multiple cuts and abrasions and lingering back pain, in addition to his emotional distress, which he outlined in a federal lawsuit filed on Friday. 

The 25-page suit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California alleges excessive force, battery, false arrest, negligence, defamation and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It turned out that the young man was suffering from an epileptic seizure, which is why he wasn't heeding directions, according to what is seen on the video, the lawsuit and medical records provided by his doctors. Later, Hercules police charged him with crimes to justify and cover up their actions, the lawsuit alleges. 

"I really don't like seeing the cops now," Jack Bruce said in an interview, although he added his view of law enforcement in general is still positive, since his father, John Bruce, was a Richmond police officer for 27 years. "I'm paranoid about having another seizure again. I'm very frustrated because I don't want this to happen to anyone else – or me – again." 

Jack Bruce is being represented by attorneys David Fiol in San Rafael and Craig Peters at Altair Law in San Francisco. 

"They failed to follow their training," Peters said. "It seems like the officers were acting like a hammer and everything they saw was a nail. Like there is only one way to approach a scene and this is a scene that needed a different approach."

Fiol added that there was no need to rush the situation.

"The officers and the medics need to realize that the treatment for a seizure is time," Fiol said. "Give him time to come back to his senses. That's all they needed to do." 

Both lawyers represent a similar case in San Anselmo, where a 61-year-old financial planner was tased in his own bedroom after suffering from an epileptic seizure. 

That case has been amended to now name the chief of police, after the lawyers obtained an email showing he directed officers to accuse the man of domestic abuse, an allegation for which he has not been charged. 

WARNING DISTURBING VIDEO: Body camera video shows Hercules officers using Taser on Jack Bruce

Police response 

What we don't know:

Hercules police did not answer KTVU's questions regarding what happened but instead, forwarded them to the city attorney. 

The city attorney did not respond for comment. 

In a subsequent news release, police said their department and the city of Hercules' policy is to refrain from commenting on pending litigation. 

So what is unknown is if any of the officers involved were disciplined, if Hercules police used this episode as a teachable moment or if there was anything they wanted to say after what happened. 

Because of state law that protects the privacy of police personnel matters, it's not clear what happened to the officers.

But John Bruce said he was told that the officers involved received a verbal reprimand for using profanity and turning off the audio of the body camera.

He also said his son filed a use-of-force complaint against the officers, but was told their actions fell within department policy. 

Young man suffers seizure 

Timeline:

The ordeal unfolded on April 1, 2024, when Jack Bruce, a tradesman in the Local 38 of the Plumbers, Steamfitters and HVAC-Refrigeration union, was driving home in his Toyota Camry after visiting his grandmother.

As he was driving on Refugio Valley Road in Hercules, the young man suffered from a tonic-clonic seizure, previously known as a grand mal seizure, which he had never had before. 

"I don't remember anything," Jack Bruce said in an interview this week. "All I remember was that I had been visiting my grandma." 

His car ended up rolling off the road, down a little embankment. 

Two witnesses saw what happened, called 911 and went over to help. 

One of the witnesses specifically told police that Jack Bruce appeared to be having a seizure, according to the police report and lawsuit.

When police approached the car, the video shows his head bobbing, and his body convulsing. 

Officers arrive 

Officer Angel Garcia arrived and, at first, and the video shows him trying to talk to Bruce to find out what was going on. 

But Jack Bruce was in a daze.

At some point, the video shows Jack Bruce becoming conscious, but it was clear he didn't understand what was going on. His neck was slick with sweat. 

Garcia first started massaging the young man's chest – which Jack Bruce's lawyers said in their suit was both "inappropriate and potentially dangerous" in case the young man had suffered a chest injury.

A second officer, Joshua Goldstein, arrived and told Garcia: "Don't move him…he's having a seizure." 

A third officer, Michael Thompson, also appeared on scene, and later unleashed "a string of profanities" at Jack Bruce for not doing what the police said, the lawsuit alleges. 

Commands to exit car 

Paramedics showed up, and Garcia is heard telling them that it looked like Jack Bruce was having a seizure and he didn't see any drugs or alcohol in the car. 

The body camera video shows that both the paramedic and Garcia repeatedly told Jack Bruce to get out of the car. 

"Buddy, hey bro, you gotta get out of the car. Let's go."

Why? Jack Bruce asks. 

"Because you're being told something, and you need to do it," Garcia said. "Let's go. Wake up." 

Garcia tells Jack Bruce to get out again, or he will "yank" him out.

"Neither of them discussed why that was necessary or voiced any reason" why Jack Bruce "could not be evaluated where he sat," the lawsuit states. 

The turning point

5-minute mark:

At 1:12 p.m. – five minutes after arriving on the scene – Garcia is seen grabbing Jack Bruce by the neck. 

Meanwhile, Thompson shouts at Jack Bruce: "Do not fucking fight us. You will get ripped out of this car. We're not playing. Get the fuck up." 

The video then shows Garcia taking out his Taser and shocking Jack Bruce, who wails in a high-pitched scream. 

The officers are seen dragging Bruce out of his car by his limbs and hair, the video shows.

Jack Bruce struggles, trying to free himself.

Garcia shocks him again with his Taser, the video shows, sending two more pulses of current through his body.

Jack Bruce howls. 

Goldstein is seen taking his Taser out of its holster and is about to shock Bruce a fourth time, but the third officer steps in to say "no more," the video shows. 

Officers pin Jack Bruce to the ground and place him in cuffs. They put his ankles in Zip ties. 

Jack Bruce's face is now bloody, and one officer tells him that they never wanted to hurt him. 

Change of narrative 

The officers then began discussing the fact that Bruce is the son of a law enforcement officer.

And from "that point forward, they embarked on a transparent effort to state and act (on camera) as if they believed" Bruce was "high on drugs," the lawsuit states. 

The officers then submitted these "falsehood-ridden" reports to the Contra Costa County District Attorney. 

Jack Bruce was eventually taken to Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center in Martinez, where he was diagnosed with having a seizure, records show. 

He was further diagnosed with epilepsy and has been taking anti-seizure medication ever since, the lawsuit states. 

Blood and urine tests later showed he had no controlled substances in his system, other than a trace amount of THC and the medication paramedics gave him in the ambulance.

Jack Bruce's lawyers pointed out in the suit that there was no evidence that the young man was using any substances despite Garcia saying "He's high as fuck on something. I just don't know what it is." 

Garcia then silences the audio on his video for 12 minutes, without explaining why in his narrative report, in violation of Hercules policy, the lawsuit states. 

Police recommended that Bruce be charged with driving while intoxicated and interfering with a police officer.

The DA declined to charge Jack Bruce with any crime. 

Thompson has since been promoted to sergeant. 

Use-of-force expert 

Big picture view:

Roger Clark, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and use-of-force expert, reviewed the body camera video at KTVU's request. He is not affiliated with the case.

He said the situation seemed OK until about the five-minute mark.

"That's where things took a turn," Clark said. "They started inflicting force and making demands and ignoring the requirements of the training they were given as police officers. And this training is given to every police officer in California. And the outcome is unnecessary. He inflicted the use of the Taser, which is significant and forbidden in this set of facts." 

Clark was referring to the requirements issued by the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training.

The agency, known as POST, has a section that teaches police officers to recognize the effects of a brain seizure and how to handle that appropriately. 

The training also teaches officers that people experiencing these seizures will be in a fog for sometime after and cannot heed commands, Clark said. 

The training teaches officers not to move these patients and wait for paramedics to arrive if there are no other exigent circumstances.

The POST workbook clearly states: "Do not restrain them" and that any "agitated behavior" that a person may be showing during or after an episode "should not be perceived as deliberate hostility or resistance to the officer." 

Clark said that officers are trained to tend to a crime first and then a medical situation.

But since there was clearly no crime here, Clark said, the use of the Taser on a man who had a head injury is "not justified." 

"It's very clear," Clark said, adding what officers should have done in this situation. "Just keep him in the car. Give him assurances that he's OK. Paramedics are on the way." 

Father speaks out 

John Bruce, who is both Jack's father and a former police officer, is now a senior investigator for the Contra Costa County District Attorney. He said he has dealt with similar situations in the past as well.

In fact, one of his last acts before retiring in 2021 was assisting someone having a seizure late at night in the gutter in Richmond. 

He said he knew not to touch the person, but instead, make sure medical help was coming. He stood in the street to prevent any cars from hitting the person until the ambulance arrived.

"If they had simply slowed down," John Bruce said of the Hercules police officers, "all of this should not have happened. There was no particular rush to action." 

John Bruce said watching the video of his son getting tased was very "distressing" for him.

"That's because I know how this call should have been handled," he said. 

Hoping to effect change

What's next:

Jack Bruce has had six more seizures since his first one.

His mother, Darla Bruce, whose father used to be the Hercules mayor years ago, said the last one was in January, when her son fell in the tub.

She called 911 for help, and when the police showed up first, she refused to let them see her son. 

"You have traumatized him," she recalled saying to them. 

For his part, Jack Bruce said he's trying to figure out how to manage his seizures with the proper medication, but the road is challenging.

The law won't allow him to drive for six months following every seizure, and he's looking to find permanent work. 

His back and neck still ache from being stunned and roughed up, he said.

And when he looks back on that day, he has a lot of strong feelings. 

On the one hand, Jack Bruce said he is still very "pro-police. Not much has changed. There are tons of very good officers."

On the other hand, he said: "Thinking about it gives me a lot of fear and overwhelming emotions of sadness and confusion." 

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