Cox Family Seeks Arrests, Federal Civil Rights Charges For NHPD Cops

NEW HAVEN, CT —Richard "Randy" Cox cannot speak. He's paralyzed from the chest down. But he watched from his hospital bed video of a rally Friday calling for justice. Cox, 36, of New Haven, was thrown head first into a police transport van wall while handcuffed and suffered a broken neck. Instead of getting him help, five New Haven police officers were involved in manhandling him, ignoring his cries that he could not move. He told police his neck was broken. He was pulled by his legs out of the van and dragged into a wheelchair, which he slumped out of. He pleaded for help. He was dragged across the jail floor into a cell and was left on the floor, with his ankles shackled.

It's all on video. The officers are on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

His sister Latoya Boomer wants to see the police officers whose conduct is under state investigation fired for what civil rights attorney Ben Crump said is "textbook deliberate indifference."

Crump is part of a legal team representing the 36-year-old New Haven man, who, paralyzed after having his neck broken in a police van, was then manhandled by cops, who ignored his pleas for help.

Crump said what police did to Cox violates of his 4th, 8th and 14th Amendment rights.

The Cox family, the NAACP Connecticut State Conference President Scot X. Esdaile, Crump and Cox attorney Jack O'Donnell, and activist Tamika D. Mallory met with U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery.

This week, Avery said the Justice Department is watching the investigation being undertaken by the Connecticut State Police and would step in "if federal action is warranted."

"The Justice Department will pursue every available avenue to the full extent of the law," she said.

Crump said that in the meeting, "We were passionate about demanding a civil rights investigation."

Caution: Disturbing video.

Cox was arrested June 19 at a Juneteenth block party for allegedly carrying a weapon and other charges. While handcuffed in a police van that did not have seatbelts en route to the police department's detention center, he suffered a serious head injury. Officer Oscar Diaz, driving at around 36 MPH in a 25 MPH zone, stopped short to avoid a crash, which sent Cox flying, slamming head first into the van wall.

A series of "disturbing" and graphic videos from police body-worn cameras, and other video footage, show that police officers ignored Cox's cries that he believed his neck was broken, paralyzing him. They processed him on charges, and then dragged his body into a holding cell.
An ambulance eventually arrived and Cox was rushed to Yale New Haven Hospital. He's paralyzed from the chest down, Crump said, and is on a ventilator and feeding tube.

At the time, then-Acting police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle put five cops on paid leave — Diaz, Betsy Segui, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera —as Connecticut State Police took over the investigation into police conduct.

Mayor, Police Chief Visit Cox, Who Cannot Communicate

Newly-sworn New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker asked to visit with Cox, who remains hospitalized. His family "graciously" agreed, Crump said. But, as was pointed out by O'Donnell, Cox cannot speak.

"They looked at that man," Crump said. "After looking him in the eyes, what will they do?"

Elicker and Jacobson have both vowed to address, and reform, police policy. And have both said that once the state police investigation is done, the NHPD will take its own action with the officers.

Two days after Cox was paralyzed in police custody, Jacobson said he wasn't going to "sugarcoat" police actions. "It looks disturbing. It is. There are things we should have done better. Mistakes were made." He was assistant chief at the time.

Thursday, once he was sworn in a the city's top cop, Jacobson reiterated his position: "The New Haven Police Department is committed to doing everything in our power to make sure an incident like the one that happened to Mr. Cox never happens again."

"The initiatives and reforms we're announcing today are an important series of actions to make good on that promise."

A complete statement and explanation from Elicker can be found here:

https://mailchi.mp/newhavenct/new_police_chief_new_changes

March for justice for Randy Cox

Friday, hundreds marched from Stetson Branch Library on Dixwell Avenue to New Haven Police headquarters at 1 Union Ave., to demand "justice for Randy Cox.

Organized by the CT NAACP, Cox's family, friends, and lawyers, community activists, and scores of others gathered first outside the library before taking to the street for the near 2-mile walk to the police department.

Impassioned speeches followed the march, ending at NHPD headquarters.

Read More about the Cox case >>

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Tamika Mallory Joins Friday March For Justice For Richard "Randy" Cox
Justice Department Keeping Eye On Randy Cox Case, Says US Attorney