Dozens of people called 911 last weekend, desperate for Cleveland police. But, city camera video shows how long it took police to get to a street takeover in Ohio City — and you see how little police did when they got there.
One person begged dispatchers for help, saying, “Police. Police. Please send some cops up here.”
Another person told a dispatcher he was frustrated.
“They’ve been doing it for 20 minutes,” a 911 caller said. “There’s no cops here, anywhere.”
The video that the I-Team obtained shows police arrive after 20 minutes. The cruisers have lights flashing. But people stuck in the takeover questioned why officers didn’t try and stop the chaos. During this street takeover, an off-duty Parma police officer was assaulted by five suspects.
“Why? Why is nothing done?” one caller asked a dispatcher. “Why are you guys doing nothing?”
After more than 30 minutes, the group broke up on its own. Then, police cruisers can be seen on the video slowly going up to the scene.
The Ohio City disturbance was just one of several takeovers that took place in Cleveland on Saturday night into Sunday, that went on, in total, for hours.
We took your questions to the police chief. Chief Dorothy Todd said officers don’t just barge in, especially with people showing no concern for the law.
“We know that a lot of them are armed,” Chief Todd said. “The actions that we take could potentially put somebody in more harm’s way.”
Cleveland police now have a task force investigating the takeovers. The task force will look at what happened last week and also what can be done in the future to prevent these kinds of incidents from taking place.
“So everything we’re going to look at now moving forward is, ‘What worked? What didn’t work?'” Todd said.
Police are now trying to identify and charge those involved in last weekend’s takeovers. The chief stressed police want to hold everyone accountable for their actions.
But that may not be easy. Last weekend, a crowd even jumped on a Cleveland police car and swarmed it with an officer inside. But a camera in the car did not capture full, clear pictures of suspects’ faces.
In the meantime, on Thursday, police arrested Gauge Michael Thomas Franklin, 18, of Akron, on an aggravated arson charge in connection with fires at the street takeover on Sept. 15 at West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue.
An involved vehicle was also towed from the location.
An active warrant remains for the arrest of John Alan Dietrich, a 20-year-old man from Barberton, in connection with the incident.
Friday morning, police released a series of pictures of cars and people they say were involved in the street takeovers from Sept. 29:
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“Street takeovers have proven dangerous for the participants, observers and non-involved citizens. Safety is the top concern and there’s an urgency to locate the suspects. The Division is seeking public assistance with any information identifying those involved,” a release from police said.
If you have any information on any of the recent street takeovers, please contact 216-623-1234 or email police@clevelandohio.gov .
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