Man Breaks His Neck after Being Thrown into Back of Police Van Without Seat belts (video)
A man was left with a broken neck and paralysed after he was slammed against the partition in the back of a police van.
Richard Cox, 36, who was arrested on June 19, on suspicion of possessing an illegal firearm, was being transported in a van without seatbelts to the New Haven Police Department when the vehicle came to a sudden stop, tossing Cox head first into the wall.
Shocking video of the incident shows a handcuffed Richard Cox being propelled forward head first after the vehicle came to an abrupt stop.
Officer Oscar Diaz then pulled the van over to check on Cox.
“What happened?” Diaz asked as Cox attempted to tell him various times that he was unable to move his body.
Diaz called an ambulance and proceeded to drive to the police headquarters.
Multiple officers responded to the van and insisted Cox get up to leave the van, despite Cox insisting he couldn’t move.
“If you got to drag me, do what you got to do,” Cox told the officers as they proceeded to pull him out by the leg.
“Sit up,” an officer told Cox various times as he was placed and slumped over in a wheelchair with his head handing to the far side of his shoulder.
The officers proceeded to take Cox inside the station for processing without medical attention.
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Before dragging Cox on the floor of a cell and handcuffing his feet together, officers accused him of consuming drugs and alcohol – claiming that was his issue.
“He’s perfectly fine,” an officer said.
The incident means he is now fighting for his life at a New Haven hospital and, as well as being paralysed from the chest down, he has to use a tube in order to breath.
His attorney Ben Crump said: “He’s paralyzed from the chest down and has to use a breathing tube – his quality of life is forever diminished.”
Crump – who has famously represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Trayvon Martin – is calling for justice for Cox.
“They dismissed his pleas as lies, instead of offering immediate medical aid, officers dragged him off the van & threw him into a wheelchair that may have exacerbated his life threatening injuries,” Crump said.
