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Five Connecticut officers have been charged in connection to the paralysis of a Black man riding in police van, CBS News reports.
On Monday (November 28), five New Haven police officers were charged with misdeamonors — second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons — for their treatment of 36-year-old Randy Cox, who is now paralyzed from the chest down.
Cox sustained the injuries on June 19 as he was being transported in a police van to a New Haven police station for processing on a weapons charge.
On the way to the station, the driver braked hard, which sent Cox headfirst into the wall of the van, according to police. Cox pleaded for help and told police he couldn't move, yet some of the officers mocked him and accused him of faking his injuries. The officers also dragged Cox by his feet out of the van and put him in a holding cell.
"It made me sick to my stomach, to treat somebody like that," Cox's sister, Latoya Boomer, told CBS News.
The five officers were processed at a state police barracks Monday and posted a $25,000 bond, according to a news release from state police. They were also placed on administrative leave.
"Mr. Cox was mistreated," Karl Jacobson, New Haven's assistant police chief, said in June. "He should've received medical attention immediately. We can't defend anything that was released."
The officers' court date has been set for December 8.
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