In 2022, a Black man arrested by Connecticut cops was paralyzed from the neck down when the police van came to a sudden stop, hurling him headfirst into a metal partition. 36-year-old Randy Cox was arrested on weapons charges on June 19, 2022, after he was accused of threatening to shoot a woman.
He was charged with criminal possession of a gun and carrying a pistol without a permit. However, those charges were later dismissed. Cox was handcuffed and placed in a police van without a seat belt. On the way to the police station, Oscar Diaz, the cop driving the van, suddenly applied the brakes to avoid hitting a car that had run a red light. It’s also important to note that Diaz was himself driving 11 miles over the speed limit while Cox was sitting at the back of the van without restraints.
Cox slid to the front, and his head hit the metal partition. He immediately pleaded for help. Diaz then stopped the vehicle to check on him.
A Black man was paralyzed in June when police put him in a van without seat belts, causing him to be thrown headfirst when it suddenly stopped.
Randy Cox says police mocked his injuries and dragged him out by his feet, denying medical care. He is now suing New Haven for $100M. pic.twitter.com/DFBaGWpBUf
— AJ+ (@ajplus) September 28, 2022
The five cops involved in the incident were arrested on misdemeanors, while Cox, who could never recover from the injuries, received $45 million in settlement in 2023. Atlanta Black Star reports that it is the largest police abuse settlement in the history of the United States.
Earlier this month, two of the cops, Ronald Pressley and Betsy Segui, accepted plea deals of suspended six-month sentences, reports the New Haven Independent. This means they won’t have to spend a single day in jail. Additionally, they were asked to pay $15 fine each in court costs.
Meanwhile, Diaz and the other two cops have rejected the plea deals. They chose to go to trial instead, as they are confident that they’ll beat the misdemeanor charges.
Diaz, along with three other cops, lost their jobs in 2023. Pressley chose to retire to avoid termination.
However, Diaz later got his job back, along with back pay. The decision came after the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration found that Diaz wasn’t responsible for Cox’s paralysis. Diaz received close to $200,000 in back pay.
At the time, New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson, told the local media, “He was an exemplary officer prior to that incident, and we’re going to do everything possible to bring him back and get going.”
While Diaz is hoping to prevail at trial, and two cops have walked free without sentencing just by paying $15 each, it is Cox who would suffer for life due to his paralysis.
New Haven government agreed to pay $45 million for its role in paralyzing Richard “Randy” Cox. Two cops arrested for their roles paid $15 apiece. https://t.co/kFLiYuuqVB
— New Haven Indy (@newhavenindy) November 13, 2025
Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing Cox, said during a press conference, “You ask yourself, was it cruel and unusual punishment to put him in the back of that police transportation van with no seat belt, knowing that if you’re speeding, if you slam on the brakes, that somebody is going to be seriously injured?”
When Cox was hit inside the vehicle, he told Diaz, “I can’t move.”
“I can see you on the camera. You’re on the side, get up,” responded Diaz.
Cox, who was severely injured, said, “I can’t, I literally can’t move. Yo, I think I broke my neck, yo.”
Diaz called for an ambulance, but not to the scene where Cox could get immediate medical attention. Instead, he called the ambulance to the police station while driving past two hospitals and took Cox to the police station.
Instead of waiting for paramedics to arrive, the cops dragged him out of the van. As Cox repeatedly pleaded that he couldn’t move, the cops dismissed his pleas and accused him of being drunk.
“My neck is broken,” Cox said. “I can’t move. I’m going to die like this. Please, please, please help me,” he further pleaded.
“You ain’t cracked nothing. You just drank too much,” Segui responded.
One cop yelled, “Sit up,” while another said, “Stop playing around.”
They placed him in the wheelchair, and he fell off. Even then, none of the cops believed him.
“He’s perfectly fine,” said another while dragging him into the cell.
Medical experts and investigators noted that dragging a person who has just suffered a spinal injury can aggravate the injuries, which is probably what happened in this case.
