Posted on 04/28/2015 7:53:47 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Freddie Gray, who died a week after suffering injuries while in Baltimore police custody, had a lengthy criminal record, mainly for drug-related offenses, according to state court records. Police claim he was involved in criminal activity, prior to his arrest.
Gray, 25, died after spending seven days in a coma as a result of injuries he suffered while in the custody of city police, the Baltimore Sun reports.
He was arrested April 12 by four officers outside a public housing complex. Police said four bicycle officers tried to stop Gray for an unspecified reason and he ran from them. They caught him and detained him while waiting for backup.
Its not yet known how Gray died. His death has sparked unrest in the city, including protests that turned violent.
A friend told the Baltimore Sun that Gray may have ran from the officers because, he had a history with that police beating him.
Freddie Gray Arrest Record
Gray had a lengthy arrest record with convictions dating back until at least 2007, according to the Maryland Department of Justice. Not all of the arrests led to convictions, in many of the cases he pleaded guilty to one charge while the others were dropped. Details of when he spent time in prison were not immediately available. His arrest record includes at least 18 arrests:
March 20, 2015: Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance
March 13, 2015: Malicious destruction of property, second-degree assault
January 20, 2015: Fourth-degree burglary, trespassing
January 14, 2015: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute
December 31, 2014: Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute
December 14, 2014: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
August 31, 2014: Illegal gambling, trespassing
January 25, 2014: Possession of marijuana
September 28, 2013: Distribution of narcotics, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, second-degree assault, second-degree escape
April 13, 2012: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, violation of probation
July 16, 2008: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute
March 28, 2008: Unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance
March 14, 2008: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to manufacture and distribute
February 11, 2008: Unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance
August 29, 2007: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, violation of probation
August 28, 2007: Possession of marijuana
August 23, 2007: False statement to a peace officer, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance
July 16, 2007: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance (2 counts)
Why Was Freddie Gray Arrested Before His Death?
Details of what led police to try to arrest Gray in April 2015 have not been made public by police. Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez told the Baltimore Sun that details of the arrest remain a bit vague, and that the officers patrolling a high-crime area with drug issues believed Gray was immediately involved or had been recently involved in criminal activity.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show that he was charged with unlawful possession of a switch blade knife, which was found after he was detained. The documents are not clear about what led to the stop. No other charges are listed.
The Associated Press reports Gray has been in and out of prison on drug convictions since 2008, according to online court records. He was set to start a trial in May on drug charges stemming from a December arrest.
We had officers in a high-crime area known to have high narcotic incidents, Rodriguez said, according to the AP. The officers believe that Mr. Gray was immediately involved or recently involved in criminal activity and decided to make contact.
Police released a timetable of the events leading up to Grays arrest and death. He was seen at about 8:40 a.m. on April 12 on a street northwest of the citys downtown. The officers approached Gray and he ran. He was caught about two minutes later two blocks away. The officers called for a transport van at about 8:42 p.m. Then, at 8:54 a.m., a block away from where Gray was arrested, the van left for the Western District station after stopping to place additional restraints on the suspect. At about 9:24 a.m., an ambulance is called to the Western District station.
Even if it were twice as long, it does not justify an extra-judicial killing.
I don’t buy so much time needed for investigations, either. Anyone who can’t interview the police involved and review any video footage and figure out the facts in short order is part of the problem.
Investigators and officials should know by now that this is the year 2015 and news is on a 24/7 cycle- you have at *MOST* 24 hours to determine and publicize the facts.
But somehow this is all my fault?
That was my first thought
Unless his arrest record was for beating up cops this is barely relevant
It plays into usual freeper logic of law breakers sorta have it coming
Circumstantial evidence can be extremely powerful evidence. Here, Gray was walking (running, even, away from the police). Then he was arrested - according to the officers, "without force or incident." Then, he was in a coma with a broken neck.
He was clearly injured and unable to use his legs, and howling as the cops “escorted” him to the police van. Need video of the capture, or what happened before.
It should be investigated. But bad things can happen when you are resisting arrest. It is not a good idea.
That is a trait of some Freepers that I will never understand. It just baffles me how someone who is in favor of freedom and individual liberty--and concerned about tyranny, totalitarianism and other forms of oppressive government authority (so concerned, in fact, to spend time on a site like FreeRepublic)--can reflexively jump on the side of the police in every single incident involving allegations of brutality of misconduct.
And George Zimmerman “chased down” little Trayvon Martin and “shot him just because he was black” right? And Michael Brown “didn’t do nothing” and was gunned down in cold blood, and....
Resisting arrest?
The defendant was arrested without force or incident.
Umm, what? Who said anything about Zimmerman, MArtin or Brown? Certainly not I. I'm not lumping all of these cases together. I'm discussing this case, with the facts that we know about this case.
And, based on what we know about this case, yes, I am a bit....skeptical....of how someone who is "arrested without force or incident" wound up in a coma with three fractured vertebrae in his neck, and later died of his injuries.
ping
We know next to nothing about the circumstances of Mr. Gray’s death, yet numerous people here have already convicted the arresting officers of murder. You’re conservatives? Sound more like Paulestinians.
Damn this guy turn into character on the Wire
Who has “convicted the arresting officers” of anything? Yes, I’m skeptical of their story—again, vertebrae usually don’t fracture themselves. But I’m not charging them, much less convicting them, of anything. I just want to know what happened.
Grey was arrested at 8:40 AM. At that time, he complained of trouble breathing and asked for an inhaler. The transport is called and he is loaded in. At 8:46, the driver says that Grey is acting "irate." The police stop the transport "to complete paperwork" and Grey is taken out and placed in leg irons. Bystander video shows him being placed back in the van, his legs dragging. At 8:59, the driver asks another unit to check on Grey. At this time, another arrestee is placed in the van, but they are separated by a metal divider.At 9:24, an ambulance is called. They find Grey not breathing at 9:37.
Actually there is a continuum from intentional homicide, through negligent homicide (which includes foreseeable accidents which those having custody of a person are responsible for taking measures to prevent) to accidental death for which those who having custody of the person cannot be considered legally responsible because it arose from circumstances which could not reasonably be foreseen.
Even death resulting from negligence on the part of the police while in police custody is culpable to the point I do not regard my rhetoric as extreme. We do know Mr. Gray died of a severed spinal cord. This is not something that happens without extreme violent trauma. Absent a vehicular accident caused by someone other than a police driver, a freak accident involving slipping and falling onto a sharp edge or projection, or a sudden attack by another prisoner — none of which seems to apply in this case — I cannot conceive of any circumstance which would subject a prisoner in police custody violent trauma severing his spinal cord, for which the police would not rightly be held culpable.
Because, although they're unlikely to admit it, they're glad that the police are roughly handling--and sometimes killing--criminals. Because they fear crime and they believe that this sort of police behavior will never touch them. That's why, anytime one of these incidents occurs, there's a rush to find anything bad that the victim did. Because then they deserve it.
I agree 100%. One of my very favorite quotes from any Supreme Court case (and yes, I have "favorite quotes" from Supreme Court cases) is from Justice Frankfurter's dissent in U.S. v. Rabinowitz:
It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people.
Worth keeping in mind in any of these cases.
It has not yet been proven that the police broke his back, intentionally or otherwise. Was he alone? Or was he a Crip/Blood wannabe thrown in with one or more of the otherclan and assaulted? Did the vehicle hit one of the numerous potholes (not repaired because the cops can't spare the manpower to protect the repair crew at work)?
If it is proven that the cops intended to harm him, they should be punished appropriately. If negligence caused the injury, the same. But accidents DO happen, and given a choice of street thug vs. cop thug, I'll be more inclined to trust the latter.
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