NHPD image
Officers dragging Richard Cox into a holding cell Sunday.
Cox's attorney Jack O'Donnell.
(Updated) A 36-year-old New Havener who suffered an injury to his spine while in police custody on Sunday is still hospitalized, on a breathing machine, and can’t feel anything below his chest, according to his attorney.
Meanwhile, three more cops have been placed on administrative leave for their “unacceptable” handling of the potentially paralyzed arrestee at the police department’s detention center the night of his arrest.
Those are the latest developments in the case of Richard Cox, who remains hospitalized after flying headfirst against a wall in a police prisoner conveyance van on Sunday. He sustained that injury when the officer driving the van stopped abruptly to avoid a car crash after speeding down Division Street.
After checking on Cox and calling for an ambulance, that officer then proceeded to drive the arrestee to the detention center at 1 Union Ave. — where fellow officers dragged him out of the van, processed him in a wheelchair, and put him on the floor of a holding cell. An ambulance crew treated him there and ultimately took him to the hospital.
In a Thursday afternoon email press release, Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle announced that she has placed Officers Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera on paid administrative leave for their roles in the handling of Cox at the detention center.
That brings the total number of officers put on leave so far in this case to five, since Officer Oscar Diaz and Sgt. Betsy Segui were both put on administrative leave on Tuesday. (See more below.)
Also on Thursday, the Independent spoke with local attorney Jack O’Donnell, who said that Cox’s family has retained him to represent the injured arrestee for the criminal weapons charges stemming from his arrest on Sunday at a Lilac Street block party.
O’Donnell said he is also representing Cox in conjunction with lawyers from the firm Weber and Rubano LLC for the injuries Cox sustained after that arrest, while in police custody.
Asked if Cox’s family plans to sue the city and the police department, O Donnell’s said that a lawsuit is “in the works.”
These four days after sustaining such a serious injury while in police custody, O’Donnell said, Cox remains hospitalized.
He said Cox has already had one cervical spine surgery, and is preparing to receive another cervical surgery on Saturday. He also said that that Cox will have to receive back surgery “in due time.”
O’Donnell said Cox’s family retained him as his lawyer on Monday, which is when he first met with Cox in the hospital.
He said he was able to talk with his client then, but, in the intervening days, he has not been able to, because Cox has been intubated and is now on a breathing machine.
Asked if Cox is currently paralyzed, O’Donnell said, “He has no sensation from his mid-chest down.”
What does O’Donnell think of what happened Sunday night, based on the police body cam and transport van video footage released so far?
“It’s very difficult to watch,” the lawyer said. “It’s disgusting.”
Chief, Mayor: Police Response "Unacceptable"
Officer body cam video at 1 Union Ave. detention center from Sunday. At 2:25, Cox says, "I can't move." An officer responds, "You're not even trying." At 4:00, Sgt. Segui says, "Sit up!" as Cox is lifted into a wheelchair. At 9:40, Cox is dragged into a detention cell, and his ankles are cuffed.
The officer who was driving the transport van on Sunday, Oscar Diaz, as well as the supervisor in charge of the detention center at the time, Sgt. Betsy Segui, have both already been placed on administrative leave as state police investigate local police officers’ treatment of Cox.
(Click here to read a previous Independent article detailing what happened that night. The article includes hours worth of police body cam and van video released by local law enforcement earlier this week.)
The three officers whom Rush-Kittle put on leave on Thursday were all assigned to the detention center at 1 Union Ave. when Diaz dropped off the injured arrestee Sunday night.
Those officers, under Segui’s supervision, pulled Cox’s crumpled body out of the back of the transport van, processed him in a wheelchair, and then dragged him into a holding cell and cuffed his ankles — all while Cox told the officers again and again that he couldn’t move.
“While the Connecticut State Police continues to take the lead on the investigation of the incident involving Mr. Richard Cox, after careful consideration of the video footage I saw, I have made the determination that all of the officers involved in the transport and handling of Mr. Cox when he arrived at our detention facility should be placed on administrative leave for potential breaches of police protocol,” Rush-Kittle is quoted as saying in Thursday’s press release. “The handling of Mr. Cox was unacceptable; it does not reflect the high standards we hold ourselves to at the New Haven Police Department. The department remains committed to doing everything in our power to make sure an incident of this nature never happens again.”
“The way in which Mr. Cox was treated, transported and handled by the officers involved in this incident at the police detention center was completely unacceptable,” Mayor Justin Elicker is quoted as saying in that same press release. “Anyone that comes into custody of the New Haven Police Department should be treated with dignity and respect and cared for in a manner than ensures their safety and well-being. In my judgement, the actions of the officers involved in this incident fell far short of that and I strongly support Acting Chief Rush-Kittle’s decision to put all the officers involved on administrative leave while the Connecticut State Police continues its investigation.”