Trespasser tased by a Palo Alto officer at a shopping center
By: -----
Palo Alto, CA - On Sunday, July 19, 2026, at about 5:35 p.m., officers from the Palo Alto Police Department responded to a report of a trespasser at the Stanford Shopping Center. Security staff requested the officer's assistance in serving a notice to the trespasser banning him from their private property. Security and the officer went to the bench where the suspect was sleeping. After multiple attempts to wake the suspect, he awoke when the officer identified himself as a Palo Alto police officer.
The suspect became agitated, stood up, and walked toward the officer while yelling at him. The suspect ignored the officer's commands to stop and continued to walk towards the officer while yelling at him. After multiple commands to stop and back away were made, the officer deployed his conducted energy weapon (a Taser) and applied it to the suspect. The suspect fell to the ground and was taken into custody without further incident at about 5:45 p.m.
Upon arrival of a backup officer, a coordinated two-officer approach to handcuffing an individual reduces the likelihood of a prolonged physical struggle, decreases the potential need for additional Taser activations or the use of other force options, and better protects the officers, the subject, and the public.