Dashcam catches Texas cop manhandling, stunning elderly man

A local Texas police department has placed an officer on administrative duty following a Thursday scuffle with a 76-year-old man pulled over for allegedly displaying expired tags.

The motorist, Pete Vasquez, was stopped at an auto dealership—where he worked and had just pulled into. He is seen exiting the vehicle—owned by the lot—to show the officer that the car has dealer plates. He also tried to get the dealership manager’s attention.

The brutality by the 23-year-old officer, Nathanial Robinson, then ensues. The officer is seen grabbing the man’s arm and wrestling him to the ground in a Nelson hold. The two disappear from the dashcam’s site, and the officer then appears standing, having drawn his stun gun. In the background is Drake’s “Under Ground Kings” blaring from the patrol car’s stereo, making it difficult to decipher the officer’s words in front of the vehicle.

The incident is one of many showing how dashcams, bodycams, and phone cameras are exposing alleged police brutality, especially in the wake of calls— from President Barack Obama on down—to outfit the nation’s police forces with body cameras in an effort to bring more public accountability to policing.

Immediately following the Texas brouhaha, an unnamed sergeant is overheard interviewing Vasquez.

Vasquez: “Then he grabbed me and threw me on the pavement there. I almost knocked my head on that damn pole. And then he started tasing me.”

Sergeant: “Are you hurt?”

Vasquez: “Not yet. Probably later on. I’m 76 years old.”

J.J. Craig, the Victoria Police Department chief, told local media that the footage “raises some concerns” and that he opened an investigation into the incident after reviewing the tape.

The chief confirmed to the Victoria Advocate that Vasquez was, indeed, driving a vehicle with dealer tags, meaning the vehicle was exempt from being pulled over for expired tags.

The car lot’s sales manager told the Victoria Advocate that, during the incident, he said to the officer: “‘What in the hell are you doing? This gentleman is 76 years old,’” Larry Urich said. “The cop told me to stand back, but I didn’t shut up. I told him he was a goddamned Nazi Stormtrooper.”

The victim, who was not charged with any crime, was briefly hospitalized and said he had some body aches.