Man Paralyzed in Police Van Gets Historic $45M Settlement

Man Paralyzed in Police Van Gets Historic $45M Settlement

Introduction

A 45 million dollar settlement has been awarded for the care of a guy who was rendered paralyzed in a police vehicle following an arrest in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2022.

On June 19, 2022, the guy suffered a neck injury when the police van taking him to jail abruptly braked to avoid a collision with another car that had come out of a side street, according to the police.

The man went head-first into the metal partition separating the driver's section from the inmates' area since there were no seat belts and he was unable to brace himself because his wrists were bound.

The man was shown on video pleading for assistance and the cops accused him of being inebriated and dismissing his injuries. He was taken to jail by police after being placed in a wheelchair. They awaited an ambulance there.

Infractions of the officer behavior guidelines of respecting the law, integrity, trustworthiness, civility, and respect led to the termination of two police officers. The two cops and the other three are also accused of crimes.

The New Haven Police Department has implemented a complete set of changes, according to the city's mayor, who also demanded department-wide training on duty to intervene. The agency has also changed its rules and procedures on the transfer of persons in custody. The police agency and the court are holding the involved policemen accountable.

New Haven's insurer will pay for thirty million of the overall settlement, leaving the city to finance the remaining one hundred million. According to the plaintiff's counsel, this payment, which is the largest in a lawsuit involving police wrongdoing in our country's history, tells the rest of the world that we must be capable of more than this.