Prisoner: Freddie Gray 'Tried to Injure Himself'

He heard him banging on police van walls
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2015 10:11 PM CDT
Updated Apr 30, 2015 12:30 AM CDT
Prisoner: Freddie Gray 'Tried to Injure Himself'
Protesters march to the site of Freddie Gray's arrest after holding a rally the Baltimore Police Department's Western District police station.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A weird twist in the Freddie Gray case: A prisoner being transported in the police van in which the Baltimore man suffered a fatal spinal injury says he could hear Gray banging on the walls and thought he "was intentionally trying to injure himself," according to a statement on a search warrant obtained by the Washington Post. But the prisoner couldn't actually see Gray, and a lawyer for the family says they have not been told about the unidentified prisoner's statement. "We disagree with any implication that Freddie Gray severed his own spinal cord," the lawyer tells the Post. "We question the accuracy of the police reports we've seen thus far, including the police report that says Mr. Gray was arrested without force or incident."

According to the Post's timeline of events, the prisoner who says he heard Gray banging on the walls was in the van for the last six blocks of the ride to the police station—after Gray, who was handcuffed and wasn't wearing a seat belt, had already asked for medical help. Six Baltimore police officers have been suspended over the death and police plan to turn the results of their investigation over to prosecutors on Friday. NBC News reports the report won't be made public. As Capt. Eric Kowalczyk put it: "There is evidence that has to be preserved, so we have tried to find the balance of releasing as much information as we can." The mayor's office has said it hopes police will "share any additional facts and details to the public that could shine some light on this," reports the Baltimore Sun. (More Baltimore stories.)

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