City never cleaned up Cleveland evidence lot: I-Team

CLEVELAND (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team has found an important Cleveland police evidence lot overrun with trees and large brush a full year after the city promised it would get cleaned up.

But, a year later, the lot looks even worse than before, and we found concern could interfere with justice.

So, we went back to city hall. We’re not talking about a few high weeds. Much more extreme than that. Small trees and bushes grow out of cars. Big trees swallow up other cars. It appears some vehicles have been there forever.

Yet, you can find that in a Cleveland police lot used to hold evidence in major crimes.

We first exposed the conditions in June of last year, but SkyFox captured new video days ago. The scene appears even more rundown. Again, even in a place to protect clues in the most serious cases.

We sent a picture to the head of the Cleveland police union.

“It’s disappointing. The city needs to maintain it,” said Andy Gasiewski.

He explained that vehicles are taken there so that investigators can collect and document evidence. It might help convict a suspected killer or carjackers.

“It’s very critical that the cars there maintain some kind of integrity, chain of custody, to show that nothing is tampered with or would infringe on a court hearing,” said Gasiewski.

A year ago, city hall released a statement to the I-Team. It said a work order list called for clearing the trees and bushes, replacing the fence and more. So, after seeing our new video, we sent new questions back to city hall.

“We’re definitely working on something that we want resolved,” Sgt. Freddy Diaz said.

Sgt. Diaz said police can’t just move cars out because of court cases and sometimes long appeals.

But now, the city plans a meeting with investigators, prosecutors and the city department over tree crews, Urban Forestry.

“We’re going to work together with our law department and our detectives to determine which cars can be removed on a priority basis. And once those cars are removed, Urban Forestry can come in and clear the brush as soon as we can,” Sgt. Diaz added.

The lot didn’t get in that condition overnight. Now, a year after we first exposed it, a new promise to make sure it doesn’t get even worse.

We also checked with Cuyahoga County prosecutors for reaction to our findings. That office issued a statement:

“Our office maintains constant communications with our law enforcement agency partners regarding the preservation of evidence for case purposes. As our office has no authority over the management or the maintenance of the Cleveland Division of Police’s evidence lots, any specific questions would need to be directed to them. “

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