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WARNING DISTURBING: Hercules police use Taser on man suffering medical emergency
Hercules body camera video, obtained by KTVU, shows Hercules police officers using a Taser on Jack Bruce, then 21, in April 2024. He had just suffered an epileptic seizure.
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. The Hercules police chief also did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
VIDEO: Hercules police shock 21-year-old man with Taser 3x while he was experiencing medical emergency
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.
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.
The Source: Information in this story came from court documents, an email from attorney Craig Peters and prior KTVU reporting.