Freddie Gray Invoked By Lawyer For Man Paralyzed In Cop Transport Van

NEW HAVEN, CT —Though he largely "cannot move," hospitalized Richard "Randy" Cox, 36, of New Haven, is "sensing his reality."

"He knows there's a chance he'll never walk again," civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said Tuesday at a news conference outside the courthouse.

Crump, an attorney involved in the George Floyd case, was joined by Cox's lawyers Jack O'Donnell, Michael Jefferson, state NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile, and members of Cox's family including his mother Doreen Coleman and his sister Latoya Boomer.

Asking about the New Haven police officers conduct rhetorically, he wondered, "Why didn't they use just an ounce of humanity?"

Crump said he joined the case and "came to New Haven because of the actions. and inaction, of the New Haven Police Department."

Crump called the incident "tragically similar to Freddie Gray."

"But this is the Freddie Gray case on video. They can't deny what happened," Crump said.

In 2015, Gray, 25, died a week after suffering a spinal cord injury while in a Baltimore police transport vehicle.

As reported by Patch last week, the New Haven police videos were from officer body worn camera footage as well as video from inside a police paddy wagon, and inside the detention center at New Haven police department headquarters on Union Street.

Crump posted video on his social media including Facebook and Twitter where, he said, the videos have been seen by more than a million.

"All America is waking up and watching that video. One million people have watched the horrific video. This is shocking. This is horrific. This is inhumane. We are better than this New Haven. We are better than this America," he said.

Arrested at a Juneteenth block party, hours later, he'd be paralyzed after being in police custody

Now hospitalized, intubated and paralyzed, Cox was arrested June 19 at a Juneteenth block party for allegedly carrying a weapon and other charges.

While handcuffed in a police van en route to the New Haven police department's detention center, he suffered a serious head injury when 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. The van does not have seatbelts.

Warning: Graphic Video

The series of "disturbing" and graphic videos from police body-worn cameras, and other video footage that show that police officers ignored Cox's cries that he believed his neck was broken, paralyzing him. Police processed him for charges, and then dragged his body into a holding cell.

When the wagon arrives at the detention facility for Cox to be processed, he is lying limp in the vehicle, according to the video. Diaz had called for an ambulance, police said, but not to arrive at the scene of the near-crash, but rather at police headquarters, which is a several minutes drive away.

The officers waiting for the van in the sally port assemble to get Cox out of the van, the video shows. Diaz says he thinks Cox may be hurt. And Cox can be heard, softly asking for help."Help me. I don't want to die like this."

But according to the video, instead of helping, police officer and detention center supervisor that evening, Betsy Segui barks orders at the man who is not moving. She shouts: "Sit up! You're not even trying! Turn your body. Sit up, stretch out! Come on, or we're gonna pull you out. You drank too much! Sit up!"

Officers drag Cox out of the van and try to hold him up, but he falls to the ground and then they put him in a wheelchair so he can be processed for the charges he faces. In the chair, he slides down to the floor: "I think my neck is broken," he can be heard telling cops.

After being booked, he's dragged to a cell by two officers and left on the ground with ankle cuffs placed on him, the video shows. Segui can be heard saying, "See? He's perfectly fine."

A total of five officers have been placed on leave by Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle pending the outcome of a Connecticut State Police investigation. Diaz, the police van driver, detention center shift supervisor Segui, and officer Ronald Pressley, officer Jocelyn Lavandier, and officer Luis Rivera, were pulled from duty while their conduct is under investigation.

Police released the videos to the media, and Rush-Kittle and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker both condemned the actions they witnessed in the videos.

Two press conferences, few hours apart

Two hours after Crump's appearance Tuesday, and a week after police released the videos to the media, Rush-Kittle, Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, who all condemned the actions they witnessed in the videos, called their own media event.

Rush-Kittle emphasized that the police department and city were transparent in releasing information about the incident.

She said that "within 32 hours" videos were released and that five officers were placed on administrative leave. She said that the police department "invited the Cox family" to view the videos before they were released to media.

"We cannot comment any further, however we welcome all to start a conversation with the community on how we can improve moving forward and ensure nothing like this occurs in our city again."

When asked about the parallels between the Freddie Gray case, where Gray died after being in a police transport, and what happened to Cox, Elicker said that he "watched the videos many times."

"I saw some bad decisions and an extreme lack of compassion."

The questioner also asked if the actions of New Haven cops were police brutality, Jacobson called what happened to Cox as "mistreatment."

"We don't condone or want our officers to act in those ways. We can't defend that (behavior in the video) that was released."