Chief: Police officers involved in New Haven case should be fired
NEW HAVEN — The city’s police chief is recommending the officers involved in the Randy Cox case be terminated.
New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson announced Tuesday that he is recommending Sgt. Betsy Segui and Officers Luis Rivera, Jocelyn Lavandier and Oscar Diaz be fired for the incident that left Cox paralyzed last summer. The fifth officer involved, Ronald Pressley, retired earlier this year.
Jacobson said his recommendation was based on the results of a recently completed internal affairs investigation that found the five officers violated several departmental codes of conduct, including law-abiding, integrity, trustworthiness and courtesy and respect.
“It was a long process, this department has gone through a lot since that incident, this community has gone through a lot,” Jacobson said Tuesday. “The message to the community is ... we will be transparent and we will be accountable and we will hold our officers accountable.
“The message to the officers is that this administration does have your back and mistakes do happen, but we will not treat this community disrespectfully as has happened in the Randy Cox situation,” Jacobson added.
He said the city’s police board will vote on his recommendation in late April or early May.
Jacobson noted he does not have the authority to fire or hire officers. Two other New Haven police officers, whose names were not disclosed, will be disciplined for their roles in the Cox incident but will not face termination, the chief said. One of the unnamed officers was a police supervisor and the other was working at the detention center where Cox was taken after his arrest, Jacobson added.
Matt Popilowski of Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante, representing Diaz and Pressley in their criminal cases, said while his firm does not represent those two individuals in their labor dispute, he believes
terminating the officers at this point is “premature” because “not all the facts and evidence have been through the process.”
“We will address the criminal case in that court and if it comes to it, let the jury decide,” Popilowski said.
Attorney Gregory Cerritelli, who represents Segui in the criminal case against her, said he was “not surprised” by the chief’s recommendation and fully expects the four officers to be fired. “There is no due process at this stage of the proceedings and the entire process lacks fundamental fairness,” Cerritelli said.
“Interestingly, the chief announced over 50 policy changes within the department, including seat belts in prisoner conveyance vans, and changes in transportation, detention, and additional officer training,” Cerritelli continued. “It is obvious to even a casual observer that these officers are being used as scapegoats for a department that had, and has, woefully inadequate training and policies.”
Attorney Dan Ford, who represents Lavandier in Superior Court, also pointed out he does not represent her in the labor matter but said, “I believe the recommendation to terminate Ms. Lavandier is premature at this point.”
Rivera’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
In a separate news conference at City Hall following Jacobson’s announcement, Mayor Justin Elicker said he stood by the chief ’s decision, calling the actions of the five officers “unacceptable.”
“We need to do everything in our power to ensure that it never happens again,” Elicker said.
Doreen Coleman, Cox’s mother, who attended Elicker’s news conference, said the chief ’s recommendation to fire the four officers was “something we had been waiting for” but “we still have a whole lot more to go.”
Coleman said her son, who is paralyzed from the chest down, is “making progress” and “is in good spirits” while at a longterm rehab facility. According to Coleman, Cox is processing this latest development and “waiting to see what’s really going to happen” with the five officers being charged.
R.J. Weber, one member of Cox’s legal team who stood beside Coleman inside City Hall Tuesday, said the family was satisfied with the chief ’s recommendation despite the decision coming about nine months after Cox was injured.
“While this has taken som e ti me, the most important thing is to get it right,” Weber said. “Even though it’s been nine months since Juneteenth when Randy was paralyzed, it’s not a long time. What is a long tim eis7a. m .to10p. m. every day of the week when Randy wakes up paralyzed from the chest down.”
On June 19, 2022, police were called to a block party on Lilac Street in New Haven for reports of a man threatening a woman with a gun. Police said they found Cox with a loaded handgun and arrested him.
Officers placed him in the back of a police van, which was not equipped with a seat belt. During the drive to a processing facility, Diaz, the officer behind the wheel, stopped short to avoid another driver, according to city officials and court documents.
Cox was thrown forward inside the van and slammed his head, according to officials and video footage of the incident.
Video from the van shows that Diaz checked on Cox after he was injured, but did not call for an ambulance. Jacobson said Tuesday that Diaz will face additional violations for his role as the operator of the police transport van.
Once the van arrived at a police holding facility, officers dragged Cox out of the vehicle by his ankles after he repeatedly told them he couldn’t move, the videos show.
Police took him to a cell in a wheelchair. He eventually was transported to the hospital and treated for his injuries.
Cox initially was charged with breach of peace, second-degree threatening, first-degree threatening, carrying a pistol without a permit and criminal possession of a firearm. Those charges have since been dropped.
In addition to Diaz, Segui, who was working as a supervisor at the detention center on the night of the incident, also will face additional “supervisory-related” violations, according to Jacobson.
The five officers involved have been charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons. The criminal cases remain ongoing. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges. All five were suspended days after the incident occurred.
Cox’s family filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against the city and four police officers in September. This month, a judge granted a request by Diaz to have the unknown driver of the other car he braked to avoid hitting added to the suit as a “Jane Doe.”
In another motion, the officers have also tried to pass some of the blame for Cox’s injuries on to the EMTs who treated him immediately after he was injured in police custody.