After a black man was paralyzed from the chest down in an accident, while riding in the back of a police vehicle, five police officers were criminally charged in New Haven, Connecticut. 

According to arrest warrants submitted in the State of Connecticut Superior Court, Ronald Pressley, Oscar Diaz, Luis Rivera, Betsy Segui and Jocelyn Lavandier, all members of the New Haven Police Department, were accused of a misdemeanor of second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to a person.

Richard “Randy” Cox Jr. was detained in June on accusations of threatening a lady at a block party while he was carrying a gun. He was charged with disturbing the peace, making threats in the second degree, carrying a weapon without a license, illegally possessing a firearm, and making threats in the first degree. The charges were later dropped. 

Cox was taken into custody and was placed in the back of a police van without a seatbelt. According to an arrest warrant, Officer Diaz, the van’s driver, unexpectedly came to a halt after witnessing another car run a stop sign. Cox struck his head and neck after flying head-first against a metal partition in the vehicle. He repeatedly yelled for aid and begged Officer Diaz to stop since he had fallen and was immobile. Officer Diaz urged Cox to stand up, but Cox said, ” I literally can’t move, I can’t move, I think I broke my neck.” According to the warrant, Officer Diaz stopped the van and opened the door to inspect Cox, although Officer Diaz repeatedly claimed he did not hear Cox. 

Officer Diaz and the other four police officers pulled Cox from the vehicle and called for an ambulance to meet them at the police station. Cox informed them that he was immobile. He was even accused of being intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, and the authorities questioned why he was immobile. Finally, the police grabbed him by the ankles and hauled him out of the van. Officer Pressley allegedly threatened Cox by saying, “You keep messing with me, I’ll see you when you come back,” according to court filings. 

After being carried out of the vehicle and alerting the cops that his neck might be broken, Cox later claimed to state authorities that he was never provided any medical attention. Following the event, Cox’s family filed a $100 million lawsuit, and New Haven’s Mayor, Josh Elicker, proposed new policing reforms after paying a visit to Cox in the hospital. 

All the charges are misdemeanors and all five policemen posted a $25,000 bond.