Jury sides with Concord police in suit by man who was tackled, tased during traffic stop

After a nine-day trial, a Contra Costa jury found that a Concord police officer was justified in tackling and tasing a then-64-year-old man in a 2019 traffic stop that resulted in a resisting and drunk driving arrest, but no criminal charges.

Rex G. Smith, of Concord, sued the city’s police department and Ofc. Shaun Parsley over the June 2019 incident, which left Smith bloodied and bruised after Parsley slammed in to the ground and used a taser on him twice. The suit alleged the police violence was unprovoked and the result of conflicting commands from Parsley.

During the trial, jurors saw a roughly five-minute clip video from Parsley’s body camera, which shows the incident from when the two men encountered one another till Smith is in handcuffs, asking what he did wrong. The city argued that Parsley’s use of force was justified because Smith failed to obey the officer’s commands, including by grasping his keys when Parsley told him to put both his hands behind his back.

The suit, filed in July 2020, accused Parsley of beating a “submissive and confused 64-year-old Mr. Smith for no apparent reason other than as a punishment for seeking clarity over conflicting instructions,” calling the officer’s conduct “despicable” and a violation of his Constitutional rights. The suit was filed in Contra Costa Superior Court.

Neither attorneys for the city of Concord, nor the city’s police department, responded to repeated requests for comment on the suit’s outcome.

Parsley, a former marine who has a nearly 10-year law enforcement career, has never been sued in federal or state court other than in this case, court records show. He worked at the Brentwood police department before moving to Concord four years ago, according to state payroll records.

The body cam video shows Parsley force Smith to the ground within 30 seconds of their encounter. Parsley first tells Smith, “Get in your vehicle,” but when Smith balks and asks “Why,” Parsley tells him to get on the ground. When Smith asks what is going on, Parsley tackles and strikes him while Smith asks, “Why are you hitting me, man?”

Parsley then tells Smith to put his hands behind his back, which Smith does, briefly. But when he slides his right hand to his side — stating he wants to put his keys back in his pocket — Parsley yells at him to move it back, then uses a Taser on him. The suit said Parsley cycled the Taser twice, stunning Smith for nearly 10 seconds.

About a minutes later, several officers arrive at Parsley’s request.

“What’s going on dude?” one asks.

“I don’t know,” Smith replies, later adding, “I guess I asked for it but I don’t know what I did.”

Smith was never charged in connection with the incident, according to court records. The suit says that he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and resisting arrests, but that county prosecutors declined to charge him, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.
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