a look. Randy, 36, is detained in the United States. When he reached the commissariat, he was crippled for life abroad

The incident took place in New Haven, Connecticut, where Cox was arrested for possession of a handgun—a charge that was later dropped. The officers put the man in their group without a seatbelt and took him to the police station.

At the intersection, driver Óscar Diaz has to brake hard to avoid a collision, which prompts Cox to fly his head in the direction of the metal wall. He shouted at the officers, “I can’t move.” “I broke my neck.” Diaz drives another 3.5 minutes before stopping to check on the detainee. “I think I broke my neck,” Cox said again when they reached the police station. Sergeant Betsy Siege replied, “You didn’t break it, no, you drank too much.”

Bodycam footage shows how they later dragged the man from the group by his feet and legs and put him in a wheelchair. “Sit down,” says one of the officers, and Cox replies that he can’t move. The answer is “You don’t even try”. Cox slips out of the wheelchair several times, but the officers don’t believe him and even laugh at him. They drag him into a cell and prop him up on a bed. The man did not receive any medical attention.

Cox suffered a broken neck in the impact and was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. His life expectancy was shortened, and the accident also left him with permanent muscular atrophy, a condition in which muscles become thinner.

a look. These pictures show how Cox flies up the combi wall and how he is treated afterwards

He and his family are suing the agents and the city for $100 million, equivalent to 95.18 million euros. Five officers suspended after the incident are now charged with reckless endangerment, cruelty, negligence, speeding and failing to properly secure a detainee to their truck. In addition to Diaz and Siggy, they are Ronald Pressly, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera.

The case leads to a lot of outrage in the United States, also because Cox is black. The New Haven Police Department introduced reforms last summer to ensure an incident like this never happens again. The case will be heard again on December 8.

See also. An overview of the most shocking deaths due to police brutality