Police: Suspect wasn’t buckled in
Baltimore law enforcement official says there’s no excuse for lapse; major protest coming today
BALTIMORE — Freddie Gray was not buckled into a seat in the back of a police van while being transported following his arrest, police said Friday amid wide-ranging speculation over what happened to leave the Baltimore man with a broken back.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters there are no excuses for the failure to buckle in Gray as he was transported.
The admission comes two days after a police union attorney spoke of the possibility that the injuries occurred during a “rough ride,” a frequently claimed practice in which police vehicles are deliberately driven in such a way to cause injury to suspects.
At least two suspects have won court cases against the city after being left paralyzed in such rides over the last decade or so, The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.
Gray died Sunday, one week after Baltimore police arrested him.
At some point, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury. His family said his voice box was crushed and his neck snapped before he slipped into a coma and died.
The medical examiner’s full autopsy of Gray’s body may take another 30 to 45 days, Batts said. Toxicology tests still need to be done, he said, and spinal experts may be brought in to assess Gray’s injury.
Meanwhile, anger over the incident and the police response to it continued to grow ahead of a major rally that organizers vowed would “shut this city down” today.
“The people are demanding immediate arrests, immediate end to the protracted investigation, and immediate end to the stonewalling,” Black Lawyers for Justice President Malik Shabazz said.
But he and other officials promised the protests would be peaceful — much as they were Thursday night despite a few scuffles and two detentions.
“No one has come to try and burn Baltimore down,” another protest organizer, the Rev. Tim Sutton, told reporters Friday.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake thanked those protesters who have demonstrated peacefully.
“Our community is very clear. They demand answers and so do I,” she said at a news conference.
The mayor said that will take some time, but she had concerns about what happened to Gray.
“I still want to know why the policies and procedures for transport were not followed,” Rawlings-Blake said. “I realize there is frustration over this investigation, but I want to be clear: There is a process, but we have to respect that process.”
At a Friday news conference, Batts addressed calls for his resignation following Gray’s death by saying he wouldn’t step down.
Police first encountered Gray on April 12 as they patrolled an area known for crime and drug activity. When Gray saw them, authorities said, he ran.
Gray was arrested after police found what they said was a switchblade on him. An attorney for Gray’s family has said the knife was a pocket knife of legal size.
One video of Gray’s arrest shows officers dragging him to a police van, his legs dangling limply behind him.
“His leg look broke!” a bystander yells as a witness captures the arrest on a cellphone video.
That witness, who wants to be identified only as Kiona, said she knew Gray as a joker and a playboy. But that day, he said only one thing to her.
“When I ran up the street and seen him, the first thing I asked him was he OK because I heard him screaming,” Kiona said. “He didn’t never say yes or no, he just said, ‘I can’t breathe,’ and just was yelling.”
It’s unclear whether Gray was injured during the arrest or during the van ride, but police union attorney Michael Davey said he believed the injury occurred during the ride.