‘My Neck Is Broken’: Connecticut Cops Avoid Jail Time and Pay $15 Fines After Black Man Paralyzed During ‘Rough Ride’ In Police Van Without Seatbelt
In an incident reminiscent of the Freddie Gray tragedy, Connecticut cops placed a handcuffed Black man in the back of a police van without restraining him before coming to a sudden stop in 2022, hurling the Black man headfirst into a metal partition, paralyzing him from the neck down. The five New Haven police officers involved in the incident were arrested on misdemeanors, and the victim, Randy Cox, received a $45 million settlement in 2023 — which remains the largest police abuse settlement in the history of the United States. But earlier this month, two of the cops, Ronald Pressley and Betsy Segui, accepted plea deals of suspended six-month sentences, meaning they will not spend a day in jail. They were also required to pay a $15 fine in court costs, according to New Haven Independent. Two of the cops who left a Black man named Randy Cox paralyzed during a "rough ride," then dragged him into a jail cell, received suspended jail sentences and $15 fines. (Photo: New Haven Police and family photo) The other three New Haven cops, including the one driving the van, rejected the plea deals, choosing to go to trial instead, confident they would beat the misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons. ‘Shot Him at Point-Blank Range’: White Cop with Red Devil Tattoo Who Killed Black Man Accused of Stealing Beer Wins New Trial After Judge Rejects Jury’s Verdict The charges were described by attorneys representing Cox as a “slap in the face” to the Black man back in 2023. Oscar Diaz was the cop who was driving the van. He claimed he came to a sudden stop to avoid a car crash. Diaz was fired in 2023 along with three of the other four officers, including Segui. Pressley chose to retire to avoid termination. But Diaz ended up getting his job back, along with back pay, a year and a half later, after the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration ruled that Diaz was not responsible for Cox’s paralysis, according to the Yale Daily News. Diaz, who made $142,766 in 2022 and $210 580 in 2021, according to Open Gov Pay, likely received close to $200,000 in back pay. “He was an exemplary officer prior to that incident, and we’re going to do everything possible to bring him back and get going,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told local media at the time. Cox, meanwhile, now 39, will forever be imprisoned by his disability. Watch the disturbing video below. ‘He is Perfectly Fine’ Cox was 36 years old when he was arrested on weapons charges on June 19, 2022, after he was accused of threatening to shoot a woman during a block party. He was charged with criminal possession of a gun and carrying a pistol without a permit, but those charges were later dismissed. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and he was placed in the back of a police van without restraints. As they were driving to the police station, Diaz slammed on the brakes to avoid striking a car that had run a red light, but Diaz himself was driving 11 miles over the speed limit. “You ask yourself, was it cruel and unusual punishment to put him in the back of that police transportation van with no seat belt, knowing that if you’re speeding, if you slam on the brakes, that somebody is going to be seriously injured?” said Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing Cox, during a press conference in 2022. Crump described the incident as a “rough ride,” where cops deliberately drive recklessly with unrestrained suspects who are handcuffed, which is what happened to Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015. Cox, who was projected headfirst into the metal partition dividing the back of the van from the front, began pleading for help, prompting Diaz to stop and check on him. "I can't move,” Cox told Diaz. "I can see you on the camera,” Diaz responded. "You're on the side, get up”. "I can't, I literally can't move,” Cox pleaded. “Yo, I think I broke my neck, yo." Rather than call an ambulance to respond to the scene, Diaz called the ambulance and told them they would meet the ambulance at the police station, driving past two hospitals. And rather than leave him inside the van at the police station until paramedics arrived, they dragged him from the van and placed him in a wheelchair as he repeatedly pleaded with them for help, and he fell off the wheelchair. But the cops were dismissive of his complaints, accusing him of being drunk and faking his injuries. "My neck is broken,” Cox said. "I can't move. I'm going to die like this. Please, please, please help me”. “You ain’t cracked nothing,” Segui said. “You just drank too much.” “I can’t feel sh_t, bro,” Cox pleaded. “Sit up!” one cop yelled. “Stop playing around,” another said. “He is perfectly fine,” said one of the cops as they dragged him into the cell. However, dragging a person who just suffered a spinal injury is the last thing that should be done because it can aggravate the injuries, which is likely what happened here, according to investigators, attorneys and medical experts. Segui, who was a sergeant, also appealed to get her job back, but her termination was upheld by the board. The other two cops who were fired, Luis Rivera and Jocelyn Lavandier, also appealed, but the state board has not made a decision on their cases yet. “You cannot just have deliberate indifference when it comes to Black people because you think they’re irrelevant,” attorney Crump said in the 2022 press conference. “Well, I’ll tell you this, thank God the video caught how you really felt about Randy Cox,” Crump added.
