Randy Cox Readmitted To Hospital, Attorney Crump Waits To File Lawsuit

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

NEW HAVEN, CT — Richard "Randy" Cox, who was paralyzed after a June ride in a police paddy wagon and then manhandled by police, according to videos from police body-worn cameras, was re-admitted to the hospital due to complications from his injures, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Thursday.

Crump said he had planned to announce the filing of a lawsuit against police at a news conference outside City Hall, but must wait for the outcome of a Connecticut State Police investigation.

Cox, 36, of New Haven, was thrown head first into a police transport van wall while handcuffed and suffered a broken neck, a video depicts. Instead of getting him help, five New Haven police officers were involved in manhandling him, ignoring his cries that he could not move, the video shows. 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, the video shows. He pleaded for help. He was dragged across the jail floor into a cell and was left on the floor, with his ankles shackled, according to the video. The officers have been on paid leave.

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

The Cox family, NAACP Connecticut State Conference President Scot X. Esdaile, Crump and Cox attorney Jack O'Donnell met with U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery, who said the Justice Department is watching the investigation.

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

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.

Caution: Disturbing video content

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. Paralyzed from the chest down, Crump said at the time, and 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.

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker sent a joint news release to the media Thursday to share what the police department has done since the incident.

“We appreciated the opportunity to hear from Mr. Cox’s family, his legal team, and New Haven residents today on the steps of City Hall, and we share their disappointment that Mr. Cox has been readmitted to the hospital for further care. Just last week we visited with Mr. Cox when he was in better spirits, and we continue to hope and pray for improvements to his health and recovery.

In addition to hope and prayers, we are also committed to action. After this tragic event occurred, we promised accountability and transparency, and we outlined a series of new initiatives and reforms that the New Haven Police Department would undertake to help ensure an incident like this never happens again to any individual while they are in the custody and care of the NHPD. We are firmly committed to making good on those promises for the sake of the Cox family, New Haven residents and the integrity of the police department.

To this end, to date the following actions have been completed or are in progress:

All five officers involved in this incident remain on leave as we await the outcome of the Connecticut State Police’s investigation on this matter. Once the state completes its investigation, the NHPD will move forward expeditiously with appropriate action for all the officers involved.

We conducted a series of public safety town halls and community conversations with residents about how we can strengthen and improve the city’s approach to public safety. The NHPD adopted and enacted new polices and standard operating procedures governing the transportation of individuals in NHPD custody and regarding detention facility operations, as codified in NHPD Special Order 22-03, and all police officers have been trained accordingly. Individuals taken into police custody are now being transported in the back of a police cruiser, except for those being taken to and from court where the vans in use have been outfitted with seatbelts.

The NHPD adopted and enacted new polices and standard operating procedures governing individuals in NHPD custody who might be in need of medical attention, as codified in NHPD Special Order 22-03, and all police officers have been trained accordingly.

New department-wide ICAT (Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics) training has been completed by nearly all police officers, which focuses on de-escalation and “provides first responding police officers with the tools, skills, and options they need to successfully and safely defuse a range of critical incidents.”

New department-wide ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement) training is set to begin in early October, which is designed “to prepare officers to successfully intervene to prevent harm and to create a law enforcement culture that supports peer intervention” in order to help “prevent misconduct,” “avoid police mistakes,” and “promote officer health and wellness.”

Random body camera audits continue to be conducted in the NHPD’s detention facility by a new supervising officer to help inform the NHPD’s review of related detention policies and procedures and the potential need for enhanced training.

The incident and the mistreatment of Mr. Cox were completely unacceptable, and we are deeply committed to these initiatives and reforms and to making the necessary changes within the NHPD to ensure an incident like this does not happen.

Read More about the Cox case >>

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