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Hi Jen. Good evening to you.
Now that agreement was reached in a settlement conference on Friday and the decision came down just after 7:00 PM and that is when Randy's attorney says for the first time ever he saw Randy break down and cry. It's really a historic day in America. Nearly a year after Randy Cox's life was flipped upside down, the city of New Haven has agreed to pay him and his family $45 million that'll cover his medical expenses for the rest of his life.
Randy has been extremely stoic throughout this entire process. He's been positive. He's continued to try to live life the best that he can. But when the agreement was reached, attorney Lou Rubano says it's the first time you witnessed Randy breakdown. Ohh the reality is, is you know the family still very sad and and and angry and you know money can only do so much.
On Juneteenth of last year Cox is being transported in a police van without seatbelts when the driver stopped short sending him flying into the back of the van. Cox complained to officers, saying he couldn't move. They're seen dragging him into a cell as he waited for EMS. Later, doctors said he was paralyzed from the chest down.
We want accountability for our Police Department, Mayor Justin Elicker says. The day after the incident, the city and its Police Department made some changes. They removed all vans without seat belts and trained all officers on their duty to intervene. We want to make sure this never happens again. But for Randy, those changes. Come too late, you'll never be able to live life the way he did before, but what it will allow him to do is to try to do some of those things that he enjoyed doing in a very different way, Rubano says.
Randy is still paralyzed from the chest down. He's at a treatment facility in West Haven where he goes through physical therapy multiple times a day. Randy has taught me, has taught me that you never give up.
Now, the City of New Haven does have a $30 million insurance policy, so they will pay the rest of the settlement money that $15 million out of pocket. However, the Board of Elders has to approve that spending, which they haven't done just yet. Now in the meantime, As for the officers, well, two of them with the New Haven Police Department has been have been fired, one of them has retired, and the last two officers will face their fate. At the end of this month, of course, we'll be following that very closely. We're live in Wallingford tonight, Julia LeBlanc, FOX 61 Connecticut news station.