The city of New Haven fired two more police officers and agreed to pay a $45 million settlement to a Black Man who was left paralyzed while in police custody after a 2022 arrest.
Richard “Randy” Cox injured his neck on June 19, 2022, after he was arrested for suspicion of illegally possessing a handgun at a block party. While en route to the jail, the van driver braked hard to avoid a collision with another vehicle that pulled out from a side street, according to multiple reports.
Cox, who was handcuffed and unbuckled in the back of the van, hit his head on the metal divider between the driver’s section and the prisoner section.
He was being represented by Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump, Louis Rubano and R.J. Weber. They originally filed a $100 million lawsuit in September.
“As the largest settlement in a police misconduct case in our nation’s history, this settlement sends a message to the country that we know we must be better than this,” said Crump, Rubano, and Weber in a statement. “This settlement makes a strong statement that police departments and their municipalities will be accountable for ensuring that police officers honor the lives of those who they are sworn to serve and protect.”
In addition to the settlement, New Haven city police commissioners voted to dismiss officers Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera for violating officer conduct rules, according to The Associated Press. Four of the six city police commissioners voted to have both officers terminated.
Cox pleaded for help while injured in the back of the van, but it took officers nearly four minutes to pull over to check on him.
“I can’t move. I’m going to die like this. Please, please, please help me,” Cox said, according to police video.
Officers called for paramedics but told the ambulance to meet them at the jail. He suffered a neck injury and was left paralyzed…
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