Five police officers in Connecticut are on administrative leave after they were involved in an incident in which a 36-year-old man was paralyzed while being taken into custody.
After processing him while in the wheelchair, two officers are shown dragging Cox into a holding cell. At one point, one officer is heard saying of Cox, “He’s perfectly fine.”
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Randy Cox’s arrest.New Haven Police via AP
On June 23, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in a letter that as a result of the incident, Cox “suffered serious injury to his neck and spine.”
“From there, American Medical Response transported Mr. Cox to Yale New Haven Hospital where he underwent surgery. Sadly,Mr. Cox’s injury may result in his paralysisand he remains in critical condition,” he added.
Elicker also confirmed that all five officers involved in the incident — “the driver, three officers at the detention facility, and the detention facility supervisor” — have been placed on administrative leave, “until the Connecticut State Police completes their investigation and the City conducts its Internal Affairs investigation.”
Cox’s sister, Latoya Boomer, told CBS that the incident “made me sick to my stomach, to treat somebody like that.”
“At what point in time do you believe someone that’s saying, ‘I think my neck is broken?’ " she added.
In the latter meeting, Jacobson added that he watched the police footage “20 times, to remind me what I have to do with this police department and the changes I have to make, ‘cause we do have good cops, but somebody’s gotta say something.”
New Haven Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson.CBS Mornings/YouTube
According to Elicker, “An NHPD internal affairs investigation was opened and the Connecticut State Police, the State’s Attorney, the State Office of the Inspector General were promptly notified and briefed on the situation. The Connecticut State Police have subsequently taken over the investigation and the NHPD is fully cooperating.”
The mayor also revealedin his June 23 letterthat the vans without seatbelts “have been taken out of service” and that the “NHPD is working to install seatbelts in those vans that do not have them.”
In an interview with CBS News, Crump said he is seeking “full justice” and “criminal accountability for those officers” involved, “but we also want to see policy changes.”
Boomer said her brother is now using breathing and feeding tubes, according toCNN.
His longtime attorney Jack O’Donnell toldThe New York Timesthat doctors are “hopeful, but not optimistic” that Cox will make a full recovery, and that he is scheduled to appear in court on July 21.
source: people.com
