Baltimore police handed their investigation into the death of Freddie Gray over to prosecutors, who now must determine if charges will be brought against the cops who took Gray into custody a week before he died of an unexplained severed spine.

The video of Gray’s arrest shows police officers dragging him into the back of a squadrol, Gray’s legs dragging limply behind.  But a preliminary autopsy suggests that Gray actually suffered the spinal cord damage in the back of the van.  Police already admitted that he was not properly secured in his seat in the vehicle.

That’s brought up speculation of a “rodeo ride” or “nickel ride” – the illegal police practice of police putting a bound suspect in the back of a vehicle, and driving recklessly, so that the person is tossed around against the steel walls.  Critics say it’s done as a form of interrogation or punishment against the victim.

Then there’s the report that Gray somehow intentionally broke his own spine in the back of the squadrol.  A newspaper reported that another person put into the back of the vehicle claimed to have heard Gray banging around, possibly trying to hurt himself.  But when confronted by a TV reporter later, the other man in the van denied telling police anything of the sort.  And when the van made it back to the police station, cops frantically called for paramedics because Gray was unresponsive and without a pulse.  He died a week later without regaining consciousness.

Even by their own accounts, it’s apparent that at least some of the cops are not telling the truth.  On Thursday, it was learned that the squadrol made a stop after picking up Gray and before arrival at the station, but that stop was not disclosed in the incident report.  The driver of the van has not yet given a statement to his superiors.