What was heard inside the Freddie Gray van
BALTIMORE -- The mystery surrounding Freddie Gray's death deepened Thursday with revelations from the second prisoner inside the van with Gray. Donta Allen had heard Gray trashing about and didn't see any harm done to Gray, according to Baltimore police.
But on Thursday Allen told WJZ-TV he heard more than just Gray's movements.
"So when we got to the station all l I hear is them (police) like, 'we got him, we gave him a run for his money,'" said Allen.
The police denied that Gray was given what is known in Baltimore as a "wild ride," intended to frighten or even injure prisoners.
But Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has admitted mistakes were made.
"We know he was not buckled in the transportation wagon as he should have been," said Batts. "No excuses for that."
Allen's description of what he heard adds another layer to an already challenging timeline to follow.
On April 20th, during the Baltimore Police Department's first press conference, Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said: "When Mr. Gray was placed inside that van, he was able to talk, he was upset, and when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk and he could not breathe."
The implication was that the spinal injury occurred in the van. But four days later, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis turned the focus back to the scene of the arrest.
"That is where the apprehension of Freddie Gray occurred and quite frankly that is exactly where Freddie Gray should have received medical attention and he did not," said Davis.
Commissioner Batts has admitted he has withheld information in his public statements because he doesn't want to jeopardize potential prosecutions in the death of Freddie Gray. That "tap-dancing," as he called it, could be one source of all the confusion.