New video shows fallout from wild, violent street takeovers in Cleveland
CLEVELAND (WJW) – NewsNation affiliate WJW uncovered new video and new fallout from wild and violent street takeovers.
Dozens of cars and huge crowds last weekend tied up traffic in Cleveland on the Innerbelt Bridge and on streets all over the city.
Wednesday, WJW revealed a shooting investigation tied to the takeovers.
And, at a hearing Wednesday, Cleveland City Council members demanded answers from the police chief about how the takeovers went on for hours.
Saturday night into Sunday, huge crowds gathered and blocked streets to watch drivers do stunts in the middle of the road.
Many in the crowd had cell phone cameras recording it, and many in the crowd carried guns.
We obtained new video showing the chaos. An angry resident in Ohio City recorded the loud cars doing stunts and some in the crowd shooting off fireworks.
Also, 911 calls just released show drivers in fear and out of patience waiting for police.
“I don’t know how you guys are not here yet. They have guns and everything,” one caller said.
“Because we have to drive there, sir. We’ve been chasing these people for the last three hours,” a dispatcher answered.
“I’m about to run about 300 people over on the 71 on-ramp. I got a big, diesel-powered truck, and I’m going into 4-wheel drive,” another caller said.
“We want the law laid down in the city of Cleveland,” said council public safety chairman Michael Polensek at a hearing.
Council members wonder how many people will face charges for the takeovers, and why it took so long for Cleveland police to take back the streets.
“I called 20 minutes ago. I haven’t seen a police car at all,” another 911 caller said.
“We had to make sure that we had a safe plan to get the officers up there and to get the citizens from that area,” said police chief Dorothy Todd.
We keep learning more about violence in the crowds. Earlier, we revealed a crowd swarmed a police car and jumped on it even with an officer inside.
We also revealed five guys beat an off-duty Parma officer.
Now, a shooting investigation has come to light believed connected to the roving street takeovers.
Gunfire erupted early Sunday morning near East 65th and Broadway. One victim went to the hospital by ambulance. That person was unable to speak to officers.
The second person went to the hospital when he was taken by friends. That person was shot in the right heel.
Witnesses told police they heard “a lot of shots.” There were also reports of bullet holes in some vehicles.
Detectives are investigating.
The question also came up: did police have any warning about the street takeovers? The chief said police got an email late Saturday about a group coming from Cincinnati.
The I-Team obtained an email sent just after noon. That email included a social media posting, and it was sent to the Northeast Ohio Regional Fusion Center, a clearinghouse for police intelligence.
“We’ve identified many persons of interest and have to look at this case now as a bigger picture,” the chief said at the hearing.
The chief says detectives want to build a case on all of the takeovers together as opposed to individual incidents.
Despite huge crowds taking part, the chief admits very few people were arrested as the street disturbances happened.
“I know there was some juveniles they arrested in a stolen vehicle in one district. In another district, they had a guy who took the plates off of his car and put them in the trunk,” Todd said.
Meanwhile, what about preventing street takeovers?
Police say they’re looking at what’s been done in other cities. For instance, maybe having police put out spike strips to puncture tires.
Back to the 911 calls, another man told dispatch, “got a gun pulled on me. He said if I moved, he’s gonna shoot me.”
The 911 calls show terror. Now, many folks, including council members, say this can’t happen again.
“Are you sending a police officer, or not?” one man also pleaded with dispatch.
Police initially said there were no serious incidents. The mayor said the city did a “fantastic” job handling what happened.
After the hearing, a council leader reacted by saying this was much more serious than anyone had been led to believe.