NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) – Three more officers are on paid administrative leave after a suspect was injured in New Haven police custody.
Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle announced that Officer Ronald Pressley, Officer Jocelyn Lavandier and Officer Luis Rivera had been placed on leave.
Police said all three officers were in custody and were involved in handling Richard Cox.
Two other officers, Officer Oscar Diaz and Sergeant Betsy Segui, had already been placed on administrative leave.
The city said it was making several changes in hopes of preventing this from happening again.
New Haven Justin Aliker said they are not only making sure all transport vans have seatbelts.
The city will also give clear instructions for the authorities when it comes to seeking medical help.
After Richard Cox slammed his head into the back of a police van, leaving the 36-year-old partially paralyzed, the city says that going forward, anyone detained and transported should now be detained.
“Currently our general orders require someone in the back of the cruiser to fasten the seatbelt tightly, although there was no requirement in the van,” Mayor Justin Aliker said.
In New Haven, that is changing.
The city on Tuesday fitted seatbelts in one of its police vans.
Eyewitnesses are told that he is working on putting them in another, so the trio will tell him to move on, even if it is not required by the state or Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council.
“The van is supposed to be like a school bus, so if the van had to rollover, how do you get people out, issues like this. We have loops, so when you’re strapped in the back, you can hold on,” said assistant chief Carl Jacobson.
After police told Cox not to bow down and flew away, the driver, Officer Oscar Diaz, who was going 11 miles over the speed limit, had to slam the brakes to avoid the crash.
While Diaz called for an ambulance, he did not stop at the scene in accordance with department policy.
Once in the city’s lock up, Cox is pulled out of the van, processed and then pulled into a holding cell.
Diaz and Sergeant Betsy Segui were placed on administrative leave earlier this week, and today the department announced three officers, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera, who were all working at the detention facility and co-operating with Cox. How they were treated played a role in this. now on vacation
Another change was made.
Officers will have to ask the detained people a series of questions to help identify any need for medical assistance.
“If someone has had a severe head trauma, some serious impact, you don’t move that person because you could potentially do even more harm to them,” Aliker said. “What happened to Mr. Cox, how he was treated, was horrific and really unfair. Protocol was not followed, but I see that a lack of compassion doesn’t reflect that we should call our police department.” What do you want?”
While officers are on leave, Connecticut State Police is investigating whether there is a criminal aspect to how the incident was handled.
This story is falling apart. See previous story below.
We continue to follow the results of a body cam video that shows a New Haven inmate being critically injured in the back of a police transport van.
We are now hearing from a local lawyer who has made a name for himself in such cases with police departments.
Eyewitness News spoke with New Haven attorney John R. Williams, who made his career partly by bringing lawsuits against police departments and officers.
While he is not involved in the case, he says that based on the videos he has seen, it will cost New Haven a large sum of money.
“I think there are a lot of lawyers who will reach out to this family, because it’s a big case,” Williams said.
Williams said he filed his first police misconduct case against the New Haven Police Department in 1971.
He said a lot has changed in those 51 years, especially when it comes to police body cam videos.
Williams said the video will play a big role in the investigation into how New Haven police handled the arrest of Richard Cox, who we’re told is now paralyzed.
“What has been done here is certainly inexplicable. I think those mayors agree as well, and someone has to pay for it and that’s going to be the taxpayer of the city of New Haven,” Williams said.
Police arrested Cox on Sunday night after receiving a call that he was walking into a Lilac Street block party with a bottle of wine and a handgun.
In the police footage, you can see Cox lying inside the police van and kicking the door.
But during the ride, the police said that the driver suddenly stopped to avoid the accident. Just then, Cox flies headlong into the back of the van, immediately calling for help.
While Officer Oscar Diaz eventually stops and calls for an ambulance, he doesn’t wait at the scene, opting to meet him on lock up, as per department policy.
Once at the lock up, officers pull Cox out of the van by his feet.
They then put her in a wheelchair to be processed, holding her neck at one point so that they could remove her earrings before dragging her into a holding cell.
Now Diaz and Sergeant Betsy Segui, who was in charge of the lock up that night, are both on administrative leave while the Connecticut State Police is investigating.
“I’m sure the city is going to be sued and I expect they have to pay by the nose,” Williams said. “It must be millions because this man’s life will never be the same.”
“I don’t know how it could be any worse than this? The city’s got to be on the hook for millions and if those 2 cops don’t get criminally prosecuted, it shows you that we still have a long time.” There is a way to go,” Williams said.
“For starters it sounds like assault in the first degree and is beyond recklessness. They did something to this man that no one would do. The man was arrested for a serious crime, but still, me Looks like it should start from there, but these two guys should be fired and put on trial. Will they be? I’m not holding my breath.”
Man injured in New Haven police transport
New Haven Police Investigating Injured Man In Transport
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