Two months before Freddie Gray died in police custody, sparking demonstrations and a riot in Baltimore, the death of a 30-year-old man with asthma who did not receive medical care while in police custody caused a much smaller outburst of sadness and anger in North Baltimore.

“All they had to do was take my son to the hospital and get him medical treatment for an asthma attack,” Cheryl Tindall said at the time, responding to the death of her son, Trayvon Scott.

While the police blamed a “pre-existing condition” for the 30-year-old’s death, an eyewitness, Lakeisha Woods, told WBAL-TV that she saw Scott struggling for breath after police arrested him on York Road near Cold Spring Lane on February 14, 2015.

“I told the police officer, please call the ambulance because he got asthma real bad. He need a medic,” Wood said.

Another person is overheard bitterly telling his friends, as a police van sweeps into a lot on York Road, “Are they going to throw us away like trash, too?”

Tomorrow Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Board of Estimates will pay Tindall and the Scott estate $100,000 to drop their lawsuit against five Northern District police officers accused of negligence, wrongful death and other violations in connection with the death.

The board said it will pay the sum “because of conflicting factual issues. . . and given the uncertainties and unpredictability of jury verdicts.”

As part of the settlement, Scott’s mother and other members of the family are forbidden to talk about the case with the press or on social media.

Five-Year-Old Case

According to Baltimore police, Scott had been identified three days earlier as the person who had shot a man in June 2010 on Old York Road.

The identification came from a “double-blind photographic array” of suspects shown to the witness, according to the arrest warrant. (The double-blind technique was initiated in 2013 by then-Commissioner Anthony Batts in an effort to insure that officers did not unintentionally sway a witness during a police lineup.)

Officer Daniel W. Starr said he spotted Scott on the 4700 block of York Road. Scott fled but was found within minutes by Starr and two other officers under the porch of a rowhouse. Scott did not resist arrest and was made to sit on the curb until a police transport wagon arrived.

During that time, “Mr. Scott told Officer Starr that he had asthma and needed water. Defendant Officers contend that Mr. Scott did not display any signs of experiencing an asthma attack,” according to the BOE settlement summary.

The summary notes, however, that a relative of Scott’s and another witness said that Scott told police he could not breathe.

“Silence Alerted Officers Something was Wrong”

Scott was not given medical treatment but instead was transported to the Northern District station, where he was placed in a holding cell by Officers Curtis M. Brown and Bryan Hake.

“Once in the holding cell,” the summary says, “Mr. Scott began to yell and complain that his handcuffs were too tight. After a short period of time, the yelling stopped, and the silence alerted the officers that something was wrong. When the officers entered the holding cell, they found Mr. Scott unresponsive on his back.”

This was about 3:30 p.m. A medic was called by police and one of the officers attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Scott was taken to Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m.

The police responded to Scott’s death in a press conference in which then-Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said there was no evidence of force used against Scott by the officers. The victim apparently suffered from a pre-existing condition, Rodriguez said, and police did not think that medical attention for Scott had been delayed.

There the case remained until today’s disclosure of the legal settlement.

Four of the five officers listed in the lawsuit remain on the police force, according to city records.

$60,000 Traffic Stop Settlement

The mayor and spending board are also scheduled to pay Sheena Smith $60,000 to settle her lawsuit against Officer Marc A. Jones Jr. for alleged assault, battery and false arrest.

The incident stemmed from a November 1, 2013 traffic stop initiated by Jones because Smith was driving a car without a front license plate.

“The plaintiff was arrested after a physical altercation” with Jones, the settlement summary says, offering no further information. Jones has since left the police department.