Hercules police postpone 'coffee with a cop' following negative comments over Taser use

HERCULES, Calif. - Hercules police postponed a "coffee with a cop" event following more than 200 negative comments on social media the department received over officers using a Taser on a young man suffering from an epileptic seizure last spring.

The event, which was supposed to have been held on Saturday at the Starbucks on Willow Avenue, has not been rescheduled. 

Police Chief Joseph Vasquez did not respond to KTVU's inquiry as to why the gathering was put on hold. 

Some people directly called out the department for both holding – and then indefinitely delaying – the event.

"How convenient," Mareonna Nanz wrote.

"I would have to say that if you can't even come out to an event that you organized because you don't want to be confronted by the citizens in your community," wrote Kurt Wise, "then you probably weren't protecting and serving the community very well." 

These comments were tamer than the negative sentiments that flooded in on the department's original post, announcing the regular meet-and-greet with Hercules police officers posted on Feb. 4. 

For example, one man wrote tongue-in-cheek, "My wife and I would like to attend this, but unfortunately she's epileptic, and it would be unsafe for her to attend this. I wish your department would make a statement about this situation instead of hiding."

And Johnny Lam wrote: "Be careful, if you have a medical emergency around them while having coffee, they'll attack you."

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

Negative comments on the Hercules PD Facebook page. 

Community members were responding to a story first reported on Feb. 7 by KTVU and the San Francisco Chronicle, which showed body-camera footage of three Hercules police officers using a Taser to shock then-21-year-old Jack Bruce, who had rolled his car down an embankment in April 2024 because he was suffering his first epileptic seizure.

The body camera showed the officers yelling and cussing at Bruce, who was in a daze, and then shocking him three times because he did not obey their orders to get out of the car. 

The young man howled in pain.

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. 

Bruce also filed a use-of-force complaint against the police department, which was reviwed by KTVU, before filing a federal lawsuit against the police this month. 

That complaint - which asked for an investigation – was denied, as the Bruce family were verbally told the officers' use of their Taser fell within policy, according to Jack's father, John Bruce, who is a retired Richmond police officer. 

John Bruce also said that he personally met with the police chief in August 2024. He said the chief gave "no indication" that any additional use-of-force investigation would take place and he recalled the chief saying "hindsight is 20/20." 

Negative comments on Hercules police FB page. 

After that original story was published, the police chief sent a statement saying that it is the department's policy not to comment on pending litigation but that it takes "any allegation of excessive force seriously and is committed to following standard protocol in response to such allegations." 

Mayor Dion Bailey has not responded to KTVU's requests for comment either, but he did say at a council meeting earlier this month that he found the video "difficult and troubling to watch." 

Bailey had mentioned hosting a town halll regarding public safety in Hercules, but that event also has not been formally scheduled. 

Former Hercules police chief, William Imboden, was one of the community members to comment on the department's Facebook page. 

He responded to a woman's criticism that the police were "ducking and hiding" from the public.

Imboden wrote to her that once lawyers get involved, the "decisions are not in the hands of the chief."

He called what happened an "ugly, ugly event."

But then he asked rhetorically if what happened to Bruce was a "one-off?" 

"Is the whole department not to be cast off as worthless with nefarious intentions?" he wrote. 

Lawyer David Fiol, who along with attorney Craig Peters, represents Jack Bruce, said that it's too bad the coffee event is not being held. 

"Open lines of communication and the ability to acknowledge and address shortcomings are important components of having an effective and trusted police force," he said. "This event was a great opportunity for Hercules to address both of these components in an honest and responsible way.  In light of the obvious desire on the part of the public to discuss and address the conduct of the officers in this case, we hope the city will schedule an event in the near future.  The pending litigation need not prevent that from happening."