One cop said Freddie Gray had ‘jailitis’ when he requested help in police van
One cop said Freddie Gray had ‘jailitis’ when he requested help in police van
One of the cops riding in a police van with Freddie Gray derided his severed spine as ‘jailitis’ as he pleaded with them for medical help.
The officer, who has not been named, seemed to imply that Gray, 25, was faking his injury because he had been arrested, when in fact he had broken his back – a wound which would later kill him.
The shocking detail was uncovered by an internal probe by Baltimore Police, and was disclosed in an exclusive report on the investigation by the Baltimore Sun.
It also disclosed that crucial evidence from the ride is missing because a video camera which was supposed to be recording the interior of the police van with Gray inside was not working.
The new details come after six police officers were charged with crimes ranging from misconduct in office to second-degree murder over Gray’s death, which prosecutors say was a directly result of police negligence and indifference to the young man’s suffering.
Officer Caesar R Goodson Jr, who was driving the van, was hit with the murder charge as well as three variants of manslaughter.
Three other officers were charged with manslaughter, while the remaining two stand accused of lesser offenses. All six have posted bail, which reportedly ranged from $250,000 to $350,000.
Marilyn Mosby, the State’s Attorney for Baltimore, laid her indictment against the officers in a fiery press conference Thursday.
She said the officers had no good reason to arrest Gray, and that his fatal neck injuries were a direct result of the way officers restrained him.
The Sun’s report said that police are in the midst of a painstaking operation to recreate as much of the ride as possible – and will continue to pass newly-uncovered facts to Mosby’s office.
The city’s police union, meanwhile, condemned the prosecution as an ‘egregious rush to judgement’ and said it believed the officers had done ‘nothing wrong’.
Violent protests in the city eased after the charges were announced, and open-air demonstrations took on a celebratory tone Saturday.
