Hercules to pay $1.3M to man after police stunned him with Taser

HERCULES, Calif. - The city of Hercules and the Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District have agreed to settle a federal excessive force lawsuit with a young man suffering from a medical seizure whom police officers tased with a stun gun for $1.35 million, lawyers told KTVU. 

$1.3M Taser settlement

By the numbers:

Jack Bruce's settlement was reached on May 4 in U.S. District Court in Oakland. 

On Friday, Craig Peters, one of Bruce's attorneys, confirmed the amount to KTVU, which wards off a trial. 

Of the total, Hercules will pay $1.25 million on behalf of the city and officers Angel Garcia, Michael Thompson and Joshua Goldstein. In addition, $100,000 will be paid by the Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District and paramedic Daniel Collyer, according to Peters' office.

Bruce and his family declined to comment. 

Excessive force alleged

The backstory:

The settlement stems from the suit that Bruce, 23, filed in 2025, alleging excessive force, battery, false arrest, negligence, defamation and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Body camera video shows officers using a Taser on him on April 1, 2024, after the young man didn't comply with police orders to get out of his car after he had veered off the road down a small embankment in Hercules while on his way home from visiting his grandmother. 

It turned out he was having a grand mal seizure – the first time he had ever experienced such a medical issue – and wasn't comprehending what was being asked of him, he told KTVU in a prior interview.

Court documents indicate that Bruce's attorneys had been seeking $10 million. 

Hercules