CNN
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A person partially paralyzed after sliding head-first into the again wall of a Connecticut police van has had all expenses towards him dropped, the deputy chief clerk for the New Haven Superior Court docket stated Thursday.
Randy Cox, 36, was arrested on June 19 on suspicion of illegally possessing a handgun.
Video of his arrest reveals Cox getting right into a police transport van that had an extended bench however no seat belts.
When the motive force makes an abrupt cease, Cox – who was handcuffed – slides down the bench head-first into the again wall of the van.
He’s now paralyzed from the chest down, legal professional Benjamin Crump stated.
Police footage reveals Cox repeatedly asking for assist, saying he can not transfer and thinks his neck is damaged.
When he arrives at a detention middle, officers inform him to sit down up or rise up off the van flooring.
Cox once more says he can not transfer.
“You’re not even making an attempt,” one officer says.
The video additionally reveals an officer telling Cox he drank an excessive amount of and to sit down up.
Finally, officers raise Cox up and drop him right into a wheelchair. Cox begins falling out of the wheelchair when two officers seem to carry him up.
After Cox is processed on the jail, the video reveals him showing to slide partially off the seat of the wheelchair.
Video reveals officers dragging him from the wheelchair and throughout the ground right into a holding cell earlier than propping him towards a mattress.
Because the final officer within the cell walks away, Cox falls on the ground.
“What occurred to Mr. Cox was simply horrible and fully unacceptable,” New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker stated in June. “It is not going to be tolerated within the New Haven Police Division.”
5 New Haven law enforcement officials, together with the van’s driver, have been positioned on administrative depart pending an investigation, Elicker stated.
The 5 officers – together with the town of New Haven – are additionally named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Cox.
The go well with alleges varied claims together with negligence, exceeding the velocity restrict, recklessness and failure to have correct restraints within the transport wagon.
It additionally claims particular person officers used extreme drive and did not render support, co-counsel RJ Weber stated.
“There isn’t any sum of money in damages that might compensate this man for the accidents that he sustained, for the accidents that he suffered … and the ache that he has to endure bodily, and extra importantly mentally, for the remainder of his God-given life,” Weber stated.
In July, New Haven officers introduced a sequence of reforms and police coaching guidelines that embody requiring the usage of seat belts in prisoner transport.
