At Least One Cop Warned That Freddie Gray Needed Medical Care

After he was arrested and put in a police van, Freddie Gray begged for medical help, but was ignored, according to one officer’s testimony.

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The officer, William Porter, reportedly told investigators that after he was called to check on Gray, he told the transport “driver that the city booking facility would not process Gray because he was in medical distress”, the Sun writes. Gray reportedly asked Porter for assistance, saying “help me, help me”. When the van stopped at the police station to drop off another detainee, Gray was found to be in cardiac arrest and taken to a trauma center.

Porter helped Gray up, then asked if he required a “medic or something”, or if he needed to go to the hospital. Porter also told investigators that once he told White that Gray appeared to be in distress, she told the officers to get him medical care.

Last week, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow asked Judge Williams to schedule Officer William Porter’s trial first because he is “a necessary and material witness in the cases against” Officer Caesar Goodson and Sgt. He died in a hospital a week later of the spinal cord injury.

Gray, 25, was arrested for carrying a knife and was bundled into a transport van while in handcuffs and shackles and not secured with a seatbelt, officials said.

Some of the officers’ accounts initially given to investigators differ from each other, which helps explain why separate trials were ordered for them. These accounts contradict what other officers have said, specifically about any knowledge that Gray was in need of medical attention while in police custody.

Prosecutor’s have been aggressive in their pursuit of the officers as a national call for police accountability has rung since the deaths of several black men and women at the hands of the police.

In a statement to the newspaper from lawyers for all six officers, defence attorney Joseph Murtha characterized police disclosure of their clients’ statements as “unfair and unconstitutional”. The 25-year-old’s family recently agreed to an agreement with the city of Baltimore for $6.4m to settle any civil claims.