5 Connecticut Officers Charged After Black Man Was Left Paralyzed

Five Connecticut police officers were charged on Monday with misdemeanors in a case in which a Black man who was being transported in the back of a police van became paralyzed when the driver hit the brakes hard, shattering the man’s spine.

The man, Randy Cox, 36, was being taken to a police station in New Haven on June 19 on a weapons-related charge.He smashed headfirst into the van’s side, and the incident was captured on video.

The officers appeared to treat him callously following his injuries, mocking his inability to sit up, police video and audio released by lawyers for his family show. The lawyers could not be reached by publication time.

On Monday the five officers involved, Oscar Diaz, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, Luis Rivera and Sgt. Betsy Segui, who face reckless endangerment and cruelty charges, turned themselves in at Connecticut State Police barracks, according to the state police. They have each been released on $25,000 bond, with a court date set for Dec. 8.