Man hospitalized with neck fracture after Palo Alto officer deploys taser at mall

Footage from July 19 captures a clash at the Stanford Shopping Center where a man, after being awakened and arguing with a police officer and a security guard, stood up and reached toward the officer. The officer instructed him to step back and warned he would be tasered, to which the man replied, “Do it.” The officer then discharged his taser into the man’s chest outside the New Balance store, causing the man’s body to stiffen and fall face-down, with blood appearing on his forehead for several minutes before officers handcuffed him.

Emergency responders transported him to a hospital, where a fractured vertebra in his neck was identified. He now faces charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and drug possession, and later expressed remorse. City Manager Ed Shikada told the City Council that the police auditor will examine the officer’s actions, and the Palo Alto Police Department released the footage in compliance with California’s Assembly Bill 748, which mandates timely disclosure of force-related video.