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Conn. Officers Charged With Misdemeanors for Paralyzing Black Man During Transport

36-year-old Randy Cox was left paralyzed from the chest down after officers slammed on the brakes while transporting him in a police van.

Five New Haven police officers were slapped with charges for second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons on Monday over their treatment of a Black detainee in June that ended in his partial paralysis. Randy Cox, 36, was being transported for processing in New Haven when one of the officers slammed on the breaks, sending him flying across the police van. Some of the officers reportedly began to mock Cox as he struggled to move and plead for help, claiming he was faking his injuries. Then, on body cam footage captured by one of the officers, they removed Cox from the van by his feet and left him in a cell before bringing him to a hospital for treatment—with the incident leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. “You can make mistakes, but you can’t treat people poorly, period. You cannot treat people the way Mr. Cox was treated,” said Police Chief Karl Jacobson to reporters on Monday. The officers, who turned themselves in on Monday, are due back in court on Dec. 8. Four of the five have already filed motions for qualified immunity, claiming that their actions didn’t violate legal standard.