A man suffered a fractured neck vertebra after a police officer used a Taser on him at a shopping center in Palo Alto, California.
Video recorded July 19 shows the man sitting on a bench outside the Stanford Shopping Center after being awakened. He can be seen arguing with a police officer and a security guard.
The man eventually stood and extended a hand toward the officer. The officer told him to back away and asked whether he wanted to be taken to jail.
“You’re going to get tased, dude. You’re going to get tased,” the officer warned.
“Do it,” the man replied before moving more quickly toward the officer outside the New Balance store.
The officer fired the Taser into the man’s chest. His body immediately stiffened, and he collapsed onto the ground.
The video shows the man lying face down, with blood coming from his forehead, for about three minutes before an officer handcuffed him. Emergency crews later transported him to a hospital, where doctors determined that he had fractured a vertebra in his neck.
Authorities charged the man with resisting arrest, trespassing and drug possession.
According to an Aug. 14 email from City Manager Ed Shikada to the City Council, cited by the Palo Alto Daily Post, the man later apologized for his conduct during the encounter.
Shikada also said the city’s police auditor would examine the officer’s use of force. The Palo Alto Police Department released the encounter video on Aug. 14.
Under California law, law enforcement agencies must release audio and video recordings within 45 days when an officer’s use of force causes “great bodily injury,” including broken bones. The requirement took effect in July 2019 through Assembly Bill 748.
The Palo Alto Police Department has previously released footage under the law.
In July 2025, the department published video of an incident in which officers pulled a man from a stolen bicycle, resulting in a broken wrist.
The department also released footage from a Dec. 23, 2023, incident in which a rubber bullet injured the tip of a man’s finger. In that case, the man had reportedly strangled his wife and head-butted his son before refusing to leave his home.
