Two more cops in New Haven, Connecticut, involved in the case of Richard "Randy" Cox, a man paralyzed from the chest down during police transport last June, have been fired. NBC Connecticut reports that on Wednesday, the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners voted to pink-slip officers Betsy Segui and Oscar Diaz, just a few weeks after officers Jocelyn Lavandier and Louis Rivera were fired. Ronald Pressley, a fifth officer who was present during the June 22, 2022, incident, has already retired.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson had recommended that the four officers, who CBS News notes have been suspended since last summer, be fired after an internal affairs probe. The terminations were "important and necessary steps towards ensuring accountability for the mistreatment of Randy Cox while he was in their custody and care," New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker says in a statement. "This behavior will not be tolerated," added the board's chair, Evelise Ribeiro, after the vote, calling what happened to Cox "appalling," per the New Haven Register.
Cox had been riding in a police van while handcuffed but without a seatbelt; when the van stopped short, he went flying, hit his head, and broke his neck. The officers are accused of initially ignoring the seriousness of Cox's injuries, believing he was faking it. He reached a $45 million settlement with the city of New Haven earlier this month. All five officers involved in the incident were arrested by state police in November on misdemeanor cruelty and reckless endangerment charges. They've all pleaded not guilty in their pending cases. Segui and Diaz, meanwhile, plan to appeal their terminations. (More Connecticut stories.)
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