Baltimore cops finished their probe into the death of a black man who died in police custody and gave their findings to prosecutors on Thursday — as new evidence emerged showing that the police van he was in made a previously unreported fourth stop while bringing him to the precinct.
The state’s attorney’s office will review the information along with the results of its own probe, and then decide whether to seek criminal charges against any of the six cops who were suspended following the April 19 death of Freddie Gray.
The 25-year-old was busted a week earlier after he ran from cops, and mysteriously suffered severe spinal injuries while in custody.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts on Thursday provided no details of what was in the report, and did not take questions at a news conference announcing its completion a day earlier than the Friday deadline he had set.
“I understand the frustration; I understand the sense of urgency. … That is why we have finished it a day ahead of time,” said Batts, adding that more than 30 detectives were assigned to the case, which sparked weeks of protests that climaxed with a wave of arson, looting and violence Monday night.
Batts also said cops would continue working on the case at the direction of State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
“This does not mean that the investigation is over. If new evidence is found, we will follow it,” he added. “Getting to the right answer is more important than speed.”
If Mosby decides to try to prosecute any of the cops, her office would present its case to a grand jury to seek an indictment — meaning charges could be weeks or months away if any are brought at all.
At the same news conference, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis reviewed the timeline of Gray’s time in custody and his death — and acknowledged that the van made a fourth stop.
Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran. After a foot chase, officers pinned him down, cuffed him and loaded him into a van.
Last week, Davis said there were three stops — one to put leg irons on Gray, the second “to deal with Mr. Gray” for an unexplained reason and the third to pick up another prisoner.
The new stop “was discovered from a privately owned camera,” Davis said, and came between the first and second stops. He did not elaborate.
The revelations came after two new accounts of what might have happened to Gray emerged.
The first came from a relative of one of the cops involved in the arrest, who told CNN the officer thinks Gray was injured when he was being arrested — before he was put into the police wagon.
“He believes that Freddie Gray was injured outside the paddy wagon,” the relative told the network.
“Six officers did not injure this man. Six officers didn’t put him in the hospital. I’m worried that instead of them figuring out who did, that six officers are going to be punished behind something that maybe one or two or even three officers may have done to Freddie Gray.”
She also said Gray was not wearing a seatbelt — as Batts said he should have been — because he was angry and the cops didn’t want to get close to him, even though he was cuffed.
“They didn’t want to reach over him. You were in a tight space in the paddy wagon. He’s already irate,” she said.
“He still has his teeth, and he still has his saliva. So in order to seat-belt somebody you have to get in their personal space. They’re not going to get in his personal space if he’s already irate.”
The second came from a prisoner who was in the same van, according to The Washington Post. That prisoner told investigators he thought Gray “was intentionally trying to injure himself.”
He told investigators that Gray “was still moving around, that he was kicking and making noises” up until the van arrived at the police station. Batts said the man also said the driver did not speed, make sudden stops or “drive erratically.”
The six officers involved were suspended with pay amid the criminal investigation.
Gray’s death was the latest in a series of high-profile cases around the country in which black men have died as the result of encounters with police.
Also Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake were scheduled to lead a summit on improving relations between police and the community after Gray’s death.
Meanwhile, a nighttime curfew for the city that began at 10 p.m. Wednesday ended Thursday at 5 a.m. with no major disturbances reported.
With Post Wires
