Source: Freddie Gray Injured by Bolt in Van

And Donta Allen, reported 2nd passenger in police van, says it was a smooth ride
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2015 7:23 AM CDT
Source: Freddie Gray Injured by Bolt in Van
Donta Allen says he was the second passenger in the police van that was carrying Freddie Gray.   (CBS Baltimore)

A law enforcement official said to be familiar with the Freddie Gray investigation says the Baltimore man appears to have suffered serious head injuries while being transported in a police van on April 12, per the Washington Post. Investigators reportedly don't know yet what caused the injuries for sure, but one injury appeared to have taken place when Gray's head struck a bolt sticking out in the van, the unnamed official tells the Post. Gray's injuries seem to match with those that would be found on someone in a car collision, the source adds. The investigation's findings were handed over to prosecutors yesterday, and one other detail reportedly popped up as well: that the van made a previously undisclosed stop said to have been caught by a private security camera (details are scarce, but more here).

Meanwhile, Donta Allen, the man who says he was the second passenger in the van with Gray, yesterday disputed police reports in which Allen supposedly said Gray had intentionally tried to injure himself, per WJZ. Allen, who had been picked up for allegedly stealing a cigarette, does tell a WJZ reporter "I heard a little banging like he was banging his head." But as for the original police report that appeared in the Washington Post, Allen had forceful words. "They're trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to hisself (sic)," he says, per the Guardian. "Why the f--- would he do that to hisself (sic)?" He also tells WBAL that when he entered the van, "I didn't hear nothing. It was a smooth ride. We went straight to the police station. All I heard was a little banging for about four seconds." (More Freddie Gray stories.)

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