[quote=spdrun]During the time that Freddie Gray was in the paddy wagon and they were accused of driving like maniacs, no one’s life was in danger other than Gray’s. The issue isn’t the arrest as much as the possibility of them carrying out an illegal “punishment”, resulting in Gray’s death.
They have a history of doing that. Not only to career crooks like Gray (who was more of a small-time dealer and thief than a violent hardened crim), but also to university librarians who filmed the cops responding to a noise complaint and may have displayed some attitude.[/quote]
Yes, I’ve seen those reports about other cases. If they really did do that, then they deserve to go to jail for a long time. No dispute there at all. But the accusations of “driving to kill/injure” sound more like conjecture vs. fact. Yes, they did seem to take a long route to get to the jail, and they will definitely have to account for that, but it still doesn’t mean that they were driving dangerously in order to “punish” Freddie “for sport” (but I am keeping an open mind because the circuitous route is odd).
It just doesn’t sound like they have evidence that the driver did this. It seems more plausible that the cop(s) injured him when they were arresting him.
Look at this video where they were taking him to the van. It looks as though his legs are not working properly, IMO. And based on the statements of witnesses who described how he was taken down, it sounds very reasonable that he was injured during the take-down/arrest.
To me, the question is whether or not they knew that he was severely injured and then chose not to get medical help, or if they simply didn’t know. IMHO, the biggest problems for the cops are:
1. Not getting help when Freddie was claiming to be injured. It might be helpful to know if this was Freddie’s M.O., too…if he often claimed to be injured or hurt during arrest when he was perfectly healthy, in reality (some people do this on a regular basis), it might explain why some cops who are familiar with the suspects might hesitate to call for medical assistance). Still, they should have called the paramedics.
