Officers detained Richard “Randy” Cox on June 19, 2022, for criminal possession of a handgun and disturbing the peace, placing him in the back of a police van without seat belts.
Two Connecticut officers are off the job after a Black man suffered injuries that left him paralyzed while in police custody.
According to ABC News, four of six members of the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners voted to terminate officers Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera on Wednesday for their conduct during the encounter with Richard “Randy” Cox on June 19, 2022.
Jack O’Donnell, Cox’s attorney, stated that although his client is “pleased” with the commission’s decision to terminate the officers, it’s been “a long time coming.”
“It seems like far too long for [Randy’s] liking,” O’Donnell said, ABC reported, “but we’re grateful for the outcome.”
Misdemeanor charges of second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons were brought against Lavandier, Rivera, Oscar Diaz, Betsy Segui, and Ronald Pressley on Nov. 28, 2022, for their part in Cox’s arrest.
New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson recommended firing the officers involved, excluding Pressley, who has since retired from the police department.
In March, Jacobson stated that his recommendation came from an internal inquiry and hearings that produced sufficient evidence to pursue termination.
Segui’s and Diaz’s counsel weren’t available Wednesday, so the board’s vote on Jacobson’s recommendation was tabled until June 28. Segui’s lawyer, Gregory Cerittelli, believes the police commission will vote to terminate his client.
On June 19, 2022, officers detained Cox for criminal possession of a handgun and disturbing the peace, placing him in the back of a police van without seat belts. Cox was propelled headfirst against the back wall of the van during a sudden stop.
Surveillance footage shows that the officers did not immediately provide Cox with medical attention. They presumed he was intoxicated when they got to the police station, despite his repeated requests for assistance and claims he could not move.
Video shows the officers dragging Cox by his feet and shoving him into a wheelchair, which his attorneys said could have worsened his life-threatening injuries.
The five officers involved were put on paid administrative leave in June 2022. The New Haven Superior Court clerk’s office announced the dismissal of all charges against Cox in October.
The police officers entered a not-guilty plea on Jan. 11 during their arraignment and were each released on a $25,000 bond. All defendants have denied misconduct in court documents.
NBC Connecticut reported that the court case served as the impetus for legislation that the Senate and the House approved. It calls for the police officer standards and training council to create regulations mandating seatbelt use for everyone riding in a city vehicle.
In September 2022, Cox sued the city of New Haven and several members of the New Haven Police Department for $100 million, ABC reported.
In a statement released on Wednesday, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker stated that what happened to Cox was “unacceptable” and that the board’s decision to fire the officers is another significant step in the city’s effort to offer “accountability, transparency, and action” to Cox’s family.
“When an individual enters the custody of the New Haven Police Department, there is an obligation to treat them with dignity and respect and in a manner that ensures their safety and well-being,” Elicker said, ABC reported.
The mayor added that he believes the officers’ conduct fell well short of their duty to protect and serve residents and maintain the community’s safety, and does not “reflect the high standards to which I know our police officers hold themselves to every day as they put their lives on the line to protect and serve.”
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