Elderly man thrown to ground, tased over expired inspection sticker

A Texas police officer is under investigation for using excessive force on an elderly man during a routine traffic stop last week.

Nathanial Robinson was placed on administrative duty Friday while Victoria police investigate the tasering of Pete Vasquez during a stop for an expired inspection sticker the day before, the Victoria Advocate reported.

Vasquez was driving the car back to his employer's lot, Adam's Auto Mart, when he was pulled over by Robinson. Vasquez got out of the car and tried to get the attention of the manager of the lot as he pointed out to Robinson that the car's dealer plates exempted it from keeping inspections current. Robinson however, arrested Vasquez over the expired sticker.

The dashboard video from Robinson's police car shows Vasquez pulling away from Robinson as he tries to cuff the elderly man. Robinson then slams Vasquez down onto the hood of the police cruiser. The two struggle then fall to the ground where Robinson tasers Vasquez twice.

Afterwards, Vasquez was handcuffed and loaded into the back of Robinson patrol car. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released without charges or citations.

Expired inspection tags are a class C misdemeanor in Texas and requires a citation, not arrest. The car's dealer plates did in fact make it exempt from the law. Victoria police chief J.J Craig personally contacted Vasquez to apologize for the incident after viewing the dashboard footage. If found guilty of criminal wrongdoing, moral wrongdoing or policy violation officer Robinson could face sanctions or even criminal charges with include official oppression, injury to elderly, aggravated assault, Craig told the Advocate.