5 officers charged in Black man’s abuse

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Five Connecticut police officers were charged Monday with cruelly neglecting a Black man after he was partially paralyzed in the back of a police van, despite his repeated and desperate pleas for help.

Randy Cox, 36, arrested after police said they found him in possession of a gun at a block party.

He was being driven to a New Haven police station June 19 for processing when the driver braked hard at an intersection to avoid a collision, causing Cox to fly headfirst into a metal partition in the van.

As Cox pleaded for help, some of the officers at the detention center mocked him and accused him of being drunk and faking his injuries, according to surveillance and body camera footage. Officers dragged Cox by his feet from the van and placed him in a holding cell prior to his eventual transfer to a hospital.

Cox was later found to have a fractured neck and was paralyzed. The charges against him were later dropped.

Sgt. Betsy Segui, as well as officers Oscar Diaz, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera were charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty, both misdemeanors. They have been on administrative leave since the summer.

The officers turned themselves in Monday at a state police barracks. Each was processed, posted a $25,000 bond and are due back in court Dec. 8, according to a news release from state police.