Medic wasn’t called until police arrived at the station to find Gray was ‘no longer breathing at all’, says Baltimore state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby

Police officers failed to obtain medical care for Freddie Gray even when they found him unresponsive on the floor of their van after he had repeatedly appealed for help, Baltimore’s most senior prosecutor said on Friday.

In announcing criminal charges for the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest, state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby gave the most detailed account so far of the deadly 45 minutes after Gray was captured by officers on the streets of west Baltimore in an illegal arrest.

“Mr Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the Baltimore police department wagon,” Mosby said at a press conference on Friday morning.

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Gray was arrested on the morning of 12 April after catching the eye of Lieutenant Brian Rice and running away. Mosby on Friday declared the arrest by Rice, Officer Garrett Miller and Officer Edward Nero an illegal one, explaining that a knife found in Gray’s pocket, which he was charged with carrying, was in fact legal under Maryland law.

Mosby said that despite complaining he could not breathe and needed an asthma inhaler at 8.42am, three minutes into his arrest, Gray was ignored and loaded into the van. He had already been pinned down by Nero and placed in a so-called “leg lace” by Miller.

Gray was not seatbelted in the vehicle as is required by Baltimore police rules. Several prisoners in the past have been seriously injured by so-called “rough rides”.

The first stop made by Officer Caesar Goodson, the van’s driver, was four minutes later at Mount and Baker streets. Gray had his legs shackled while the arresting officers completed paperwork. He was then reloaded into the van by Rice, Miller and Nero “on his stomach, headfirst on to the floor”, again without being seatbelted, said Mosby.

About 10 minutes after this, Goodson’s van made a second stop outside a grocery shop at Fremont Avenue and Mosher Street, whose CCTV cameras captured footage of the vehicle. The existence of this stop was not disclosed by police until Thursday 30 April.

After getting out and checking on Gray, Goodson returned to the driver’s seat and resumed his journey, according to the prosecutor. Gray’s health and responsiveness at this point is not clear, apparently because Goodson has declined to cooperate with investigators.

Goodson radioed for support from other officers to “check on the status of his prisoner”, said Mosby. He then made a third stop at Druid Hill Avenue and Dolphin Street at 8.59am. He and Officer William Porter inspected Gray. Mosby said Porter asked the 25-year-old if he needed medical care, and Gray “indicated at least twice he was in need of a medic”.

Yet Goodson and Porter still did not request medical care, the state’s attorney said. Despite moving Gray from the floor of the van to the bench, Porter once again failed to restrain Gray with a seatbelt. And despite Gray’s obvious distress, Goodson chose – “in a grossly negligent manner,” said Mosby – to respond to a separate arrest nearby.

The van made a fourth stop to collect the second prisoner, Donta Allen, near the intersection of North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. A CVS pharmacy at this spot was badly burned during rioting on Monday night. Protesters subsequently made the intersection their base in the following days.

At the second arrest site, Goodson and Porter again inspected Gray, this time with Sergeant Alicia White. They “observed Mr Gray unresponsive on the floor of the wagon”, yet did not act. White “spoke to the back of Mr Gray’s head” and when he did not respond “she did nothing further despite the fact that she was advised that he needed a medic,” said Mosby.

“She made no effort to look or assess or determine his condition,” said Mosby. Gray, laid out on the floor of the wagon and not answering, was ignored.

“Despite Mr Gray’s seriously deteriorating medical condition, no medical assistance was rendered or summoned for Mr Gray at that time by any officer,” said Mosby. He was once again not restrained with a seatbelt in the back of the van as Goodson made the last leg of his journey to the police department’s western district headquarters.

When the van finally arrived at the police station at 9.24am, White and officer Zachary Novak attempted to remove Gray only to find he was “no longer breathing at all”, Mosby said on Friday. Medics were finally called – more than 40 minutes after Gray first complained of problems. He was found to be in cardiac arrest and severely injured.

Gray was taken to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma hospital and was operated on. However, he lapsed into a coma and never recovered. He was pronounced dead on the morning of 19 April, exactly a week after he caught the eye of Rice and fled. His family said his spine was “80% severed” at the neck and his voice box almost crushed.

The state medical examiner declared Gray’s death to be a homicide. “We have probable cause to file criminal charges,” said Mosby.