Autopsy finds Freddie Gray suffered 'high-energy injury' in Baltimore police van: report

I was unaware of the 'nickel ride until I experienced one myself after being taken into custody for ignoring a court appearance for a few hundred dollar ticket that I was given after I made a 911 call and then made a decision
to drop the complaint after police arrived.

After being subjected to the standard humiliation of being unexpectedly arrested I was first sat in a cramped shut off sedan for over an hour without fluids in the heat of mid day to the point that I was nearly delirious by the time we got moving. I was put in the arresting LEO's little jail on a concrete bench for a couple hours then transferred to a large county jail where I was later picked up by a paddy wagon from the city that issued my ticket.

That paddy wagon is where the nickel ride had began. Keep in mind by the time I got in I probably had heat exhaustion from the previous in custody rides that day. My legs were not restrained but my hands were cuffed behind my back. The truck was a metal box with a middle divider where there was a metal bench seat in the center running front to back. I sat facing the right wall of the box. I could not see outside the metal box. After a couple of near falls, I held my feet in a position ready to push weight on the slick metal floor for acceleration, deceleration and whip turns. Again there was no hand hold and I was not restrained to the metal bench seat. The diesel fumes were coming in through the rear and asphyxiating me. In order to keep from falling over I bent over and placed my feet firmly on the floor my rear against the corner of the bench and pushed my head up against the the wall flexing my legs and stiffening my spine as needed.

Thus to keep from bouncing off the walls or floor I was forced in a squatting standing position where I would anticipate movements and stiffing my body between the seat and center divider and wall using me feet, my rear and my head. By the time I arrived at the jail my head had minor abrasions, my legs were rubbery and I felt like I was coming down with the flu.

Later that evening I was having a heart attack and refused medical attention until I nearly died the next day which is a whole other story, but at the time I never considered that the "Nickel Ride" including the exhaust fumes may have contributed to that event.

Looking back at my experience where I was fully friendly and cooperative with LE nearly a decade ago makes it easy for me to see how this man may have been deliberately abused to the point that it resulted in his death.

a reply to: alphastrike101

Philadelphia had to tell their cops to stop giving 'nickel rides' .
The main reason was the lawsuits they had to pay for when people ended up with broken necks.
A broken neck is a common result of a nickel ride.

In the end, a guy that did not have a broken neck when he started his trip in a police van ended up with a broken neck when the trip was over. Since he was restrained with handcuffs for the entire trip and with his legs shackled for most of the trip, I don't see why anyone thinks that the police are not responsible.

Here is an Alternet article that speaks of previous payouts by Baltimore for injuries caused by nickel rides.

a reply to: butcherguy

But once more the other prisoner in the van refuted the "nickle ride" and made mention that is was possible that my gray was trying to injure himself.

The medical expert also gave a few options of how someone can get hurt in a van without a seatbelt and made no conclusion that the ride had to be out of the ordinary to sustain such injuries.

We also know that the vans are not known to have seatbelts.

So in the end there is no current evidence to conclude that your version of events is exactly what happened.

You bring up the Philadelphia pd but that does not logically follow. With that you are making the logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc.

a reply to: alphastrike101

But once more the other prisoner in the van refuted the "nickle ride" and made mention that is was possible that my gray was trying to injure himself. 

Once again, the prisoner got into the van at least 20 minutes after Gray had been riding around in it and the driver made 4 stops.
Unless Donta has psychic powers, I don't know how he knew what went on before he got into the van.

a reply to: butcherguy

Mr Allen stated that he could hear Mr Gray was "intentionally trying to injure himself" when Mr Allen was in the van.

By the time Allen got into the van Mr gray was well enough to be "intentionally trying to injure himself".

I wonder if Baltimore Police Commissioner Batts knows what he is talking about?

“We know that he was not buckled in the transportation wagon as he should have been. No excuses for that—period,” said Batts.

cbs
He says no excuses... period.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: alphastrike101

But once more the other prisoner in the van refuted the "nickle ride" and made mention that is was possible that my gray was trying to injure himself. 

Once again, the prisoner got into the van at least 20 minutes after Gray had been riding around in it and the driver made 4 stops.
Unless Donta has psychic powers, I don't know how he knew what went on before he got into the van.

Donta stated he heard Freddy Gray banging around in the van. Therefore, we can conclude Freddy was not injured prior to Donta entering the van or someone is lying. He didn't start recanting his statements until he was outed as being in the van. You know, snitches get stitches.

I honestly have no horse in this race. I'm just seeking the facts and I tend to be skeptical. If it comes out that the police officers knowingly injured Mr. Gray, then fine. They need to prosecuted. However, we cannot let emotions cause us to jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts. This is why I want the tough and sometimes uncomfortable questions asked.

We've seen way too many cases where agitators and those with agenda put out a false narrative through a complicit media unwilling to ask the tough questions.

originally posted by: alphastrike101
a reply to: butcherguy

Mr Allen stated that he could hear Mr Gray was "intentionally trying to injure himself" when Mr Allen was in the van.

By the time Allen got into the van Mr gray was well enough to be "intentionally trying to injure himself".

He also refuted that statement since.
Even so, could he see Mr. Gray?
Is it possible that Mr. Gray was suffering from involuntary movements due to his nearly severed spinal cord?
If you follow the timeline, Mr. Gray was unresponsive to the police officers when Donta was put into the van.

a reply to: Edumakated

I don't know Mr. Gray and I have no emotional connection to him.

a reply to: Edumakated

He also said that his words were taken grossly out context. He said he heard banging, but not that he thought it was gray.
Big metal cages with moving parts going down a road at 30 mph+ are genreally noisy.

High speed impact from throwing himself around in the back of the van as the fellow prisoner testified he was doing.

There was no high speeding and sudden stops by the van the LOWJACK/GPSD Tracking shows the speeds and stops of the van every step of the way and there was none.

But a person can throw themselves down at high speeds and cause their own injuries just by dropping to the ground.

Now imagine Freddie violently throwing HIMSELF around like a head banger at a Bashfest. The injury is consistent with the testimony of the prisoner and the police.

Basically Freddie Killed himself

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Edumakated

He also said that his words were taken grossly out context. He said he heard banging, but not that he thought it was gray.
Big metal cages with moving parts going down a road at 30 mph+ are genreally noisy.

Yeah, because the snitches get stitches culture in the hood wouldn't make him back track on his words after it was put in the media that he was in the van with Freddy Gray.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
High speed impact from throwing himself around in the back of the van as the fellow prisoner testified he was doing.

There was no high speeding and sudden stops by the van the LOWJACK/GPSD Tracking shows the speeds and stops of the van every step of the way and there was none.

But a person can throw themselves down at high speeds and cause their own injuries just by dropping to the ground.

Now imagine Freddie violently throwing HIMSELF around like a head banger at a Bashfest. The injury is consistent with the testimony of the prisoner and the police.

Basically Freddie Killed himself

I was trying to find if they had actual GPS data as that would shed some light on if there was intentional rough driving.

One of the "police officers" is being charged with Second Degree Depraved Heart Murder. Do you understand the type of evidence necessary to issue a charge of that type?

They do not issue it in cases of self-injury, for starters.

I like how, in some people's worlds, the cops are doing their job right when killing prisoners on the way to processing, but NOT doing their job right when they investigate the incident and lay charges against a number of their own.

What are you Sherlock's smoking?

originally posted by: pteridine
a reply to: pilgrimOmega Watching the original video of Freddy being put in the van, it appeared that he was already injured and couldn't walk. This may be due to the dubious practice of kneeling on the back of someone on the ground while handcuffing them.

I agree with you, he never appeared to put weight on his legs the whole time he was carried to the police vehicle

a reply to: butcherguy

Very interesting that the police commissioner would say that but at the same time sending his officers out with equipment that made such policy impossible to follow.

Maybe that is one of the reasons he has been asked to resign.

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: alphastrike101
a reply to: butcherguy

Mr Allen stated that he could hear Mr Gray was "intentionally trying to injure himself" when Mr Allen was in the van.

By the time Allen got into the van Mr gray was well enough to be "intentionally trying to injure himself".

He also refuted that statement since.
Even so, could he see Mr. Gray?
Is it possible that Mr. Gray was suffering from involuntary movements due to his nearly severed spinal cord?
If you follow the timeline, Mr. Gray was unresponsive to the police officers when Donta was put into the van.

Mr Allen first told the media he never talked to investigators then later admitted to talking with them when he was presented with the police report.

As it stands though his account of Mr grays actions are on the record.

originally posted by: alphastrike101

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: alphastrike101
a reply to: butcherguy

Mr Allen stated that he could hear Mr Gray was "intentionally trying to injure himself" when Mr Allen was in the van.

By the time Allen got into the van Mr gray was well enough to be "intentionally trying to injure himself".

He also refuted that statement since.
Even so, could he see Mr. Gray?
Is it possible that Mr. Gray was suffering from involuntary movements due to his nearly severed spinal cord?
If you follow the timeline, Mr. Gray was unresponsive to the police officers when Donta was put into the van.

Mr Allen first told the media he never talked to investigators then later admitted to talking with them when he was presented with the police report.

As it stands though his account of Mr grays actions are on the record.

He heard noises, and jumped to the conclusion that the noises were made by Mr. Gray. He did not see Mr. Gray hitting anything against anything... much less his head. The noises could have been made by Mr. Gray's feet striking something. Kicking your feet against something typically does not sever your spinal cord.
An attorney would tear that up in court.

originally posted by: alphastrike101
a reply to: butcherguy

Very interesting that the police commissioner would say that but at the same time sending his officers out with equipment that made such policy impossible to follow.

Maybe that is one of the reasons he has been asked to resign.

In the New York Times article that I linked earlier, there is a cutaway diagram of the van, showing "bench seats with seat belts" .


NYT Maybe the NYT is lying about it?
Please click the link, the labels did not come out on the pic, but they are there in the graphic at the link.

edit on b000000302015-06-25T09:32:31-05:0009America/ChicagoThu, 25 Jun 2015 09:32:31 -0500900000015 by butcherguy because: (no reason given)

a reply to: butcherguy

BG I will tell you one piece of information I look forward to hearing . After the first stop when Mr. Gray was taken out of the van re-cuffed and put in leg irons. He was then placed headfirst on his stomach into the van . Most of the time when your legs are re-shackled by police they hogtie you by connecting your hands and legs behind your back . ( that's what I want to know his exact position )

It has been my contention since Mrs. Mosbys press conference . That while Mr. Gray was facedown on the floor with his hands and legs cuffed behind his back. Officer Goodson gave him a break job which caused him to slide headfirst into the partition between the transport cell and the driver .