Officer in fatal arrest once hospitalized over mental health

BALTIMORE -- The highest-ranking Baltimore police officer in the arrest that led to Freddie Gray's death was hospitalized in April 2012 over mental-health concerns for an unknown duration and had his guns confiscated by local sheriff's deputies, according to records from the sheriff's office and court.

Lt. Brian Rice, who initially pursued Gray on a Baltimore street when Gray fled after Rice made eye contact April 12, declared three years ago he "could not continue to go on like this" and threatened to commit an act that was censored in the public version of a report obtained by the Associated Press from the Carroll County, Maryland, Sheriff's Office.

Rice lived in the county, about 35 miles northwest of Baltimore.

At the time, deputies were responding to a request to check on his welfare by a fellow Baltimore police officer who is the mother of Rice's son.

Deputies reported Rice appeared "normal and soft spoken" and said he had been seeking "sympathy and attention."

But citing "credible information," the deputies confiscated both his official and personal guns, called his commanding officer and transported Rice to the Carroll Hospital Center. The weapons included his .40-caliber police pistol, a 9 mm handgun, an AK-47-style rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and two shotguns.

It was not immediately clear how long Rice was at the hospital or whether he went on his own accord. Rice declined to comment or discuss a subsequent court filing's allegations he had behaved in erratic or threatening ways toward family members.

The events described in the 2012 report provided the basis for one of at least two administrative suspensions for Rice in 2012 and 2013, a person familiar with the police department staff said.

The incidents described in the sheriff's report and court records involving Rice's personal problems portray allegations of concerns about self-control and judgment.