Florida deputies released tense body-camera footage showing the moment they used a Taser on a burglary suspect who allegedly approached them while carrying a sword and refused repeated orders to put it down.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded early Tuesday to a Gainesville home after a caller reported that a man had forced his way inside with a sword and driven the occupants outdoors against their will.
As deputies arrived, one officer could be heard addressing 26-year-old Josiah Smith: “Hey, brother, do me a favor, drop the sword. Drop the sword on the ground, my man. Let me talk to you, OK? It’s the sheriff’s office.”
Moments later, the deputy warned fellow officers over the radio, “Hey, we got him at gunpoint, he’s not compliant, he keeps approaching.”
Body-camera footage released by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office reportedly shows sword-wielding suspect Josiah Smith walking toward deputies responding to the Gainesville incident on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (Alachua County Sheriff’s Office)
The deputy continued issuing commands before raising his voice: “Josiah, throw the sword away, OK? Hey, stop, stop! Don’t move, stop. Stop, stop!”
The video then captures Smith falling backward after deputies deployed a Taser.
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Josiah Smith, 26, appears in body-camera footage moments before Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies tased him on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (Alachua County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the sheriff’s office, Smith ignored deputies’ lawful commands to drop the sword and lie on the ground. “Deputies used a less lethal launcher, shooting a foam round at Smith in order to get him to drop the sword,” the agency said. “Unsuccessful, deputies deployed a taser, and Smith was detained.”
The sheriff’s office said investigators determined that Smith and the alleged victim had no prior relationship.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said Josiah Smith was armed with a sword during the incident. (Alachua County Sheriff’s Office)
Smith was arrested and faces charges of armed burglary of an occupied dwelling, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed kidnapping and resisting without violence.