Two New Haven officers receive suspended sentences and $15 court fees as Randy Cox, now permanently paralyzed, continues to seek accountability in a case compared to a modern-day “rough ride.”
Randy Cox was left permanently paralyzed from the neck down after officers handcuffed him, placed him unrestrained in the back of a police transport van, and then came to a sudden stop that threw him headfirst into a metal divider. The incident ultimately resulted in a $45 million civil settlement, the largest police misconduct payout in U.S. history, according to New Haven Independent.
But this month, two of the officers involved — Ronald Pressley and Betsy Segui — accepted plea deals that amounted to suspended six-month sentences and just $15 in court costs. Neither will serve jail time. Three other officers, including the driver, declined their plea offers and are preparing to go to trial on misdemeanor reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons charges. Lawyers for Cox criticized the modest charges last year as a “slap in the face.”
“He was an exemplary officer prior to that incident, and we’re going to do everything possible to bring him back,” Police Chief Karl Jacobson said at the time.
Cox’s life, however, has been irreversibly altered. Arrested on weapons-related accusations in New Haven that were later dismissed, he repeatedly begged for help after being thrown across the van.
“I can’t move,” he told Diaz, who responded, “You’re on the side, get up.” When Cox insisted, “I literally can’t move… I think I broke my neck, yo,” officers dismissed him, accusing him of drunkenness.
Instead of calling an ambulance to the scene, Diaz drove past two hospitals to meet paramedics at the station. Once there, officers dragged Cox from the van, placed him in a wheelchair, and then dragged him again when he collapsed — actions that investigators say worsened his spinal injury.
Crump later added, “You cannot just have deliberate indifference when it comes to Black people because you think they’re irrelevant… thank God the video caught how you really felt about Randy Cox.”
Cox, now 39, remains paralyzed, while legal proceedings for the remaining officers continue.
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Source: Black Enterprise
