[PLMerite]

“His spinal cord was probably severed at the neck before he was dragged to the van.”

If he was running from a bicycle cop, there was probably a great difference in relative velocities when the cop took him down. He might have hit the ground hard and with a cop on his back that would be more than enough force to damage his spine.

Does anybody know if he was on parole or probation at the time?

[familyop]

"He might have hit the ground hard and with a cop on his back that would be more than enough force to damage his spine."

Yes. I also noticed that low wall right next to him and the police, before they lifted him up and yelled at him to walk. That wall would be bad for a neck to fall on. Only speculation, of course, but the injury could have been at least partly accidental.