[maxerickson]

It is possible to break a bone and have the injury remain somewhat stable for some time.

I do not offer that as an explanation of what happened, but simply as a third possibility, that he was already injured when taken into custody, but that the severity of the injury was not apparent.

[msandford]

I'm not a doctor but I doubt that your vertebra can be crushed and you can move around as normal. You'd think that a guy who had a broken neck would be trying to get to a hospital, not just hanging out.

If we're really going to stretch, it's possible that God reached into the van and snapped his neck despite the police officers doing an incredibly professional job and it's literally nobody's fault; an act of God.

[maxerickson]

The reports I see say spinal cord injury and fractured vertebrae.

Since you are mocking me, could you please point out where it is reported that his vertebra were crushed?

[msandford]

Sorry, his trachea was crushed and his spinal cord was 80% severed according to his family, which presumably heard it from his doctor. I mis-typed that one.

So let me get this straight. He breaks his neck, but things are mostly OK since he's still walking around. Then he gets arrested and that's when the bones slip and paralyzes him from the neck down? Oh and somewhere in there his trachea gets crushed? Or was that crushed before hand too?

What you're suggesting is very, very implausible and so I wouldn't say that comparing it to something supernatural is all that mocking. The point is that rational people don't know everything about the world and to 100% discount the supernatural is pretty arrogant. But I think the odds that there was a two-factor injury to this guy are about the same as the odds that God snapped his neck. Can't rule it out completely (again nobody knows everything unless you're God), but probably not a good idea to argue it in court.

[maxerickson]

He was asking for his inhaler during the initial arrest (aka complaining that he was having difficulty breathing).

I don't pretend to be informed enough to say how likely it was he sustained significant injuries prior to the arrest. I guess I think it is more likely that the significant injuries came after the arrest, but given further evidence that more clearly established the nature of the injuries and indicated it happening prior, I wouldn't simply deny the possibility out of hand.

It looks like even if it did happen prior, they still hugely screwed up by not more carefully assessing his injuries (the typical thing to do if a neck injury is even suspected is to immobilize it as soon as is possible).