Man Left Paralyzed in Police Encounter Gets $45 Million Settlement

A man who was paralyzed while being transported in the back of a police van will receive a $45 million payout, ending a legal battle against the city of New Haven, Conn.

The man, Richard Cox, 36, known as Randy, was being taken to a police station in New Haven on June 19 on a weapons-related charge in a van that was not equipped with seatbelts. When the vehicle came to a sudden halt, Mr. Cox, who was handcuffed, smashed headfirst into the van’s inside wall. The incident was captured on video.

The case was settled on Friday, two days after the city fired two police officers for their treatment of Mr. Cox. All five officers involved, including those fired, also face criminal charges in the case. An internal investigation into their conduct is ongoing.

“From day one after the tragic incident with Randy Cox occurred, we have been clear that we want to ensure accountability for the New Haven community and justice for Randy,” Mayor Justin Elicker said in an interview on Sunday. “We’ve been clear all along that we wanted to find a pathway to settle the case.”

The case captivated the nation because it was similar to that of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore man who died in 2015 after police officers drove him unrestrained in the back of a similar transport vehicle. In Mr. Cox’s case, police officers who attended the injured man admonished him to get up and said he was drunk.

Surveillance footage of the incident suggested the officers treated Mr. Cox callously, mocking him when he was not able to sit up.

It was yet another troubling encounter with the police in which Black people have been injured or killed, fueling distrust of law enforcement and inspiring waves of protests against bias and brutality in policing.

Mr. Cox had spent most of June 19 at a neighborhood block party when police officers responded to the area following a weapons complaint. Officers confronted Mr. Cox, found a weapon, they later said, and arrested him.

Mr. Cox was first placed in the back of a squad car that had seatbelts. But officers soon called for a larger van. The van, commonly used to transport suspects, did not have seatbelts in the bay of the vehicle.

In police footage, Mr. Cox can be seen unrestrained in the back of the van. He kicks against the front of the transport area several times. Then he slams violently headfirst into the back end. Mr. Cox’s limp body lies motionless as he whimpers for help.

“This settlement sends a message to the country that we know we must be better than this,” attorneys Ben Crump, Louis Rubano and R.J. Weber, who represented Mr. Cox, said in a news release. “This settlement makes a strong statement that police departments and their municipalities will be accountable for ensuring that police officers honor the lives of those they are sworn to serve and protect.”

Mr. Elicker said that the cost of Mr. Cox’s continued health care was a major factor when city officials decided how much money to pay him. He said that since the incident, the New Haven Police Department instituted a set of reforms, updated policies on the transfer of people in custody, and trained employees on their duty to intervene.

“Both sides hired experts to assess the cost of care,” Mr. Elicker said. “That was part of the process to determine and justify what an appropriate settlement was.”

Last fall, Mr. Cox’s legal team filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Haven against the city and the officers, seeking $100 million in damages for his injuries and suffering. In separate legal responses, several of the officers claimed protection under qualified immunity — a legal doctrine that protects officials and law enforcement officers from being individually liable unless a constitutional right was clearly violated.

At the time, the officers and the city issued filings that said Mr. Cox’s injuries might have resulted in part from his own negligence. Mr. Cox’s attorney at the time said his client, who underwent several surgeries to repair his spine and is paralyzed from the chest down, was appalled by their response.