Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Cellphone Video Shows First Stop Of Police Van Carrying Freddie Gray

Little was known about what happened when the van transporting Gray to the police department stopped at Mount and Baker streets in Baltimore. This cellphone video was provided to the Baltimore Sun

baltimoresun.com

Cell phone footage captured during Freddie Gray's arrest shows previously unreleased images of the police van's first stop.

Gray, a 25-year-old black resident of Baltimore, died on April 19 after sustaining a spine injury while in police custody. On May 1, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed charges against six police officers in connection with Gray's death.

The Baltimore Sun spoke with a neighbor who captured the interaction on her cell phone and was able to provide a more detailed account of what happened at the corner of Mount and Baker streets.

From the Baltimore Sun:

The video shows Gray halfway out of the van, his stomach flat on the floor, and his legs hanging off the back. He does not move as four officers stand over him and place shackles around his ankles. ...

The video shot by Gross' neighbor is distorted, and shows just a few seconds at the back of the van. As officers restrain Gray, the video shows another officer pull up in a patrol car, get out and walk toward the van.

Michelle Gross, 58, and her neighbor shot the video on Gross' cell phone. Gross said police never reached out to her to talk about the video.

"I thought his leg was just broke and that he was just going to the police station and we would hear him that afternoon," Gross told the Baltimore Sun in her first interview following the arrest.

Little was known about what happened when the van transporting Gray to the police department stopped at Mount and Baker streets. Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a press conference that Lt. Brian Rice directed the van to make this stop and it is where Gray was placed in flex cuffs and shackles. At no point during the ride did police officers secure Gray with a seatbelt.

"Following transport from Baker Street, Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside the wagon," Mosby said in charging documents filed against the six officers involved.

Rice has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment. The driver of the van, Caesar Goodson Jr., has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter among other charges. The six officers charged are free on bail and have asked Mosby to recuse herself from the case. Mosby dismissed their motion stating, "Mr. Gray was a healthy young man when arrested without probable cause but died as a result of hist treatment while in police custody."


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