New Haven police commission terminates 2 officers charged in the transport incident that left Randy Cox paralyzed
By Caroll Alvarado, CNN
(CNN) — Two of the five New Haven, Connecticut, police officers involved in the June 2022 arrest of Randy Cox, who was left paralyzed from the chest down in a police van, have been fired, officials said.
Four members of the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners on Wednesday voted in favor of dismissing officers Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera over the transportation incident, Mayor Justin Elicker said.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson recommended the terminations of all five officers in March.
The commissioners found that Lavandier and Rivera violated the “General Orders of the New Haven Police Department,” according to Elicker.
Lavandier’s lawyer called the move “an absolute rush to judgment” in a statement to CNN.
“At a minimum, the City should have waited for the judicial process to play out before terminating Officer Lavandier,” attorney Daniel Ford said.
CNN has reached out to Rivera for comment.
In November 2022, both officers, along with officers Ronald Pressley, Oscar Diaz and Sgt. Betsy Segui, were arrested and charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, the Office of the State’s Attorney in New Haven said.
The five officers pleaded not guilty in January, according to CNN affiliate WFSB. They have not gone to trial.
The officers transported Cox in a van after he was arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing a handgun. Video of the transport shows Cox, who was handcuffed, hit his head on the back wall of the van after an abrupt stop, leaving him paralyzed.
All charges against Cox in connection with the incident were dropped in October, CNN previously reported.
Segui and Diaz are set to face the same vote on June 28 after their hearings were postponed because their attorney was unable to attend Wednesday’s hearing, Elicker said.
Pressley avoided facing a decision by retiring in January, CNN previously reported.
Elicker voiced his support for the police commission’s decision in a statement.
“What happened to Randy Cox was unacceptable and the Board of Police Commissioners’ vote to accept Chief Jacobson’s recommendations to terminate these officers was the right one,” the mayor said.
“When an individual enters the custody of the New Haven Police Department, there is an obligation to treat them with dignity and respect and in a manner that ensures their safety and well-being. In my (judgment), the actions of these officers fell far short of that obligation, and they do not reflect the high standards to which I know our police officers hold themselves to everyday as they put their lives on the line to protect and serve our residents and keep our community safe,” Elicker’s statement read.
After he was paralyzed, a federal civil suit was filed on behalf of Cox in the US District Court of Connecticut alleging various claims including negligence, exceeding the speed limit, recklessness and failure to have proper restraints in the transport wagon, as well as claims against individual officers including excessive use of force and failure to render medical assistance.
An internal affairs investigation report alleges the five officers violated several of the principles, including but not limited to integrity, trustworthiness, courtesy and respect.
“When Randy Cox was arrested, he entered a police van able to walk and now he is not able to walk,” Elicker said in March. “We need to ensure that this never, ever happens again.”
Since the incident, the police department has had many training sessions, policy revisions and has added seat belts into jail vans, Jacobson said.
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CNN’s Sara Smart contributed to this report.
