65 Year Old Veteran Is Abused By Aggressive Cops During Traffic Stop, Paralysing Him For Life

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A 65-year-old Northern California man was paralyzed after being slammed to the ground during a traffic stop where police officers used “pain compliance” techniques and expressed disbelief when he repeatedly cried out “I can’t feel my legs,” according to a lawsuit announced Wednesday.

Police video released by lawyers for Gregory Gross shows the incident and his arrival at a hospital, where Gross is handcuffed to a bed, his nose bloodied.

“You want to grab his arms and flop him up on the bed?” someone asks after Gross tells a medical worker that he can’t feel his legs. They then do so while placing him in a sitting position without restraining his neck or spine.

“Don’t tell me again you can’t move,” a medical worker tells Gross later as he is prepared for a full body scan. Gross ultimately required two surgeries to fuse his spine. In separate lawsuits, Gross alleges the combination of police and medical misconduct left him unable to walk or care for himself, and he will require round-the-clock nursing care for the rest of his life.

He sued Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville, along with the University of California, Davis, Medical Center and individual medical workers, last August. The new lawsuit claims Yuba City Police Officer Joshua Jackson broke Gross’ neck. It names Jackson, fellow officers Scott Hansen and Nathan Livingston, and Yuba City. The lawsuit alleges Hansen assisted in Jackson's repeated use of force and that Livingston failed to intervene.

Jackson has not been employed by the Yuba City Police Department since February 2021, the department said Wednesday. Officials there could not immediately say if he had his own attorney.