Police officers have been guilty of all types of violent abuses of power over the years and sadly, this story is yet another disgusting act that has to be added to the list.
According to ABC News, a former Connecticut police officer named Betsy Segui has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for the mistreatment of a paralyzed prisoner named Richard “Randy” Cox while he was handcuffed in the back of a police van back in 2022. Segui admitted to second-degree reckless endangerment and was subsequently given a 60-day suspended sentence as a result of a plea deal. Another officer named Ronald Pressley also pleaded guilty to the same charges and took the same plea deal related to Cox’s abuse.
Cox suffered his injury in the exact same way that Freddie Gray was fatally injured. While being transported in a police van, without a seatbelt, Cox slammed head first into a metal partition when the van’s driver his the brakes.
“I can’t move. I’m going to die like this. Please, please, please help me,” Cox said in the van minutes after the crash, according to police video. He later was found to have broken his neck.
To make matters worse, he was arrested for allegedly threatening a woman with a firearm but that charge was later dismissed. So, essentially, he was paralyzed for nothing. When Cox arrived at the police station, officers caught on video mocking his paralysis and making jokes.
“You ain’t crack nothing. You just drank too much,”
There were several other officers involved, Oscar Diaz, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera, all turned down their plea deals and opted for a trial. All three stand accused of cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment.
A 60-day suspended sentence is too light for our taste. Police need to be held to high standards and should be prepared to face harsh punishment for violating their oaths, especially if it’s related to harm against civilians.
