‘Disturbing’ Videos Emerge After Man Paralyzed In Police Custody: PD

Editor's note: This story contains graphic and for some, disturbing video content.

NEW HAVEN, CT —A series of "disturbing" and graphic videos from police body-worn cameras, and other video footage, are at best troubling, police said. Now, two officers are on paid leave, three have been reassigned and the Connecticut State Police have taken over the investigation.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this,” said New Haven police Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson. “It looks disturbing. It is. There are things we should have done better. Mistakes were made.”

Patch has filed a Freedom of Information request for all the videos related to the incident Sunday night that left Richard Cox, 36, of New Haven, paralyzed. But during a news briefing Tuesday, police showed snippets of video that tell the story in pieces of what happened after Cox was arrested on Lilac Street in the area of a block party.

Arrested by cops on a weapons complaint, he had a gun on him and was carrying a liquor bottle when cops arrested him without incident, they said.

Placed in a police van to be taken to the detention center at police headquarters on Union Street, while on the way, the vehicle "stopped abruptly" to avoid a possible crash, police said. Cox "suffered serious injuries that impacted his neck and spine and may cause paralysis," officials said Monday.

By late Tuesday afternoon, during a news briefing, police shared several videos. Officer Oscar Diaz, the cop driving the van, and Sgt. Betsy Segui, the detention center night supervisor were placed on leave pending the outcome of the state police investigation, and later, internal police probe.

The video depicts the point when Diaz applies the brakes, going more than 10 MPH over the limit, police said, and Cox goes flying, slamming into the van wall, is graphic and some may find it very disturbing.

Diaz eventually stops the van and looks in on Cox, who said he cannot move, and then calls an ambulance to come to the detention center.

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, 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!”

He cannot.

Jacobson said Segui's actions were upsetting.

“I’m troubled by it. There’s an attempt to help him at first but I’m troubled by the rest of it. Our job is to protect people and help people,” he said.

Soon, several officers drag Cox out of the van and try to hold him up, but he falls to the ground.

He’s then placed in a wheelchair and moved to be processed for the charges he faces. In the chair, he slides down to the floor and tells police: "I think my neck is broken."

No medical care is provided.

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."

Shortly after, EMS arrive and treat him before removing him and rushing him to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he undergoes emergency surgery.

Elicker said what he saw on the videos was disturbing.

"The video footage contains disturbing images. I'm not a lawyer, a law enforcement officer, or an investigator, but as this city’s mayor and as a resident, based on what I have seen, I find the actions taken, and not taken, quite concerning. Regardless of what an individual is charged for, once the handcuffs go on, you are in the care of the NHPD.”

(Caution: Be advised that portions of this video from police are graphic. Reader/viewer discretion is advised.)

Original story

At 7:30 p.m. Sunday night, Richard Cox, 36, of New Haven, arrested by cops on a weapons compliant on Lilac Street, was put into a police van to be taken to jail. En route, Mayor Justin Elicker said during a news briefing Monday evening, the vehicle had "stopped abruptly" and Cox "suffered serious injuries that impacted his neck and spine and may cause paralysis."

Elicker said that when a person is injured in police custody, it's a "very, very serious matter."

Acting Chief Regina Rush-Kittle, said that while in the prisoner van, the police driver had to make an "evasive maneuver to avoid an accident." She said that Cox told the driver he was injured and could not move. The van proceeded to the detention center, where cops there moved him first by wheelchair and then "physically moved him into detention," she said. Rush-Kittle said that an ambulance took him to Yale New-Haven Hospital where he underwent surgery. Later, the Cox family, and the hospital, told police that his injury was to his neck and spine and may cause paralysis.

Rush-Kittle said she "ordered an immediate and thorough internal investigation, and contacted the State's Attorney's Office and the Office of the Inspector General to "review the facts and circumstances and take any and all actions they deem necessary."

"Any breaches of our protocol by officers involved and if so, what actions may be appropriate," Rush-Kittle said." The Cox family and New Haven residents want answers. We are committed to releasing information as quickly as possible, regardless of whatever the findings. We are committed to ensuring an incident of this nature never happens again."

When asked, Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson said that police policy requires that when a prisoner is injured, police are required to "stop and get medical attention immediately." But, admitted that the van driver kept going to the detention center: "The officer wanted to get to the detention center as he was close."

Jacobson said that from the time the van arrived until Cox was taken to the hospital from a jail cell was "around 10 or 15 minutes; not long."

New Haven police have three prisoner vans, two without seatbelts. Cox was transported in one without seatbelts. Jacobson said that both of those vans will be taken out of service.

Jacobson said that Cox was handcuffed behind his back and was "moving around" inside the van, standing and sitting. Rush-Kittle jumped in to add that he was "uncooperative while he was in there."

Rush-Kittle said the van driver used "evasive maneuvers" to avoid an accident. Jacobson said the van "stopped fast." Cox was alone in the van, save for the driver. Jacobson said Cox struck his head when the van driver is said by officials to have tried to avoid a crash near Munson and Division streets.

Police said that video footage and "other information" would be released Tuesday, including video.

Rush-Kittle said that the initial call was received about a weapons complaint. Cops found Cox on Lilac Street in possession of a Ruger P98 handgun. She said he's a convicted felon who was "uncooperative" with police. Cox was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, first, and second-degree threatening and second-degree breach of peace.

Court records examined by Patch show Cox was convicted in 2015 of misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault, breach of peace, second-degree threatening and interfering with an officer.

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