Five US agents are charged after a man was paralyzed in their combi. That happened on June 19, when the driver had to brake suddenly and Randy Cox (36) hit his head against a metal wall.
sam
1 Dec. 2022
Latest update:
12/1/22, 5:24 PM
The incident happens in New Haven, Connecticut, where Cox is arrested for possession of a handgun – a charge that is later dropped. The officers put the man in their combi without a seatbelt and take him to the police station.
At an intersection, driver Oscar Diaz has to brake hard to avoid a collision, sending Cox flying headfirst into the metal wall. “I can’t move,” he shouts to the officers. “I broke my neck.” Diaz drives another 3.5 minutes before stopping to check on the detainee. “I think I broke my neck,” Cox says again when they arrive at the police station. “You didn’t break it, no, you drank too much,” replies Sergeant Betsy Segui.
Dragged from the combi by feet
Bodycam footage shows how they later dragged the man out of the combi by his feet and legs and put him in a wheelchair. “Sit up,” says an officer, to which Cox replies that he cannot move. “You’re not even trying,” is the reply. Cox slides out of the wheelchair a few times, but the officers don’t believe him and even mock him. They drag him into a cell and prop him up against a bed. The man received no medical attention.
Cox suffered a broken neck in the impact and is permanently paralyzed from the neck down. His life expectancy has been shortened and the incident also left him with permanent muscle atrophy, a condition in which the muscles become thinner.
LOOK. These images show how Cox flies against the wall of the combi and how he is treated afterwards
100 million dollars
He and his family are suing the agents and the city for 100 million dollars, the equivalent of 95.18 million euros. Five officers who were suspended following the incident are now also charged with reckless endangerment, cruelty, negligence, speeding and failing to properly secure the detainee in their van. In addition to Diaz and Segui, they are Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera.
The case leads to a lot of outrage in the US, also because Cox is black. The New Haven Police Department introduced reforms last summer to ensure that such an incident can never happen again. The case will be heard again on December 8.
LOOK ALSO. An overview of the most sensational deaths due to police brutality
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