BALTIMORE (AP) – People in Baltimore and other cities accuse police of sometimes giving prisoners an extra-rough “nickel ride” – a reference to amusement rides that once cost a nickel. Now, the safety of people in Baltimore’s police vans is under scrutiny because of a past death and a new fatal injury, one that came after police failed to put a seat belt on a passenger.
One of those, Dondi Johnson, died of a fractured spine in 2005 two weeks after he was arrested for urinating in a public street and transported by van. Johnson’s family won a $7.4 million judgment that was reduced to $200,000, the legal cap for such cases. Family lawyer Kerry D. Staton said Johnson was seated alone in the van with his hands cuffed behind him and no seat belt to restrain him.
It is police policy that all arrestees must be buckled in during transport. The policy, updated just nine days before Freddie Gray was injured, states “all passengers, regardless of age and location, shall be restrained by seat belts or other authorized restraining devices.”
An attorney representing one of the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest said it can sometimes be difficult, or even dangerous, for officers to belt prisoners if they’re agitated.
“It is not always possible or safe for officers to enter the rear of those transport vans that are very small, and this one was very small.”