Video: Brawl breaks out at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Video released to the FOX 8 I-Team shows more violence inside the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center.

It’s something the I-Team has reported on again and again.

The juvenile court blames violence from the streets spilling over into the lock-up. The latest big incident happened a week and a half ago.

Security video showed a group of kids barrel into an activity room. They started attacking other teens and even throwing furniture. At times, three kids attacked one.

Security staff struggled to take back control.

Some of the teens involved broke off from one fight to jump into another.

A report shows some of the teens also kept trying to break secure glass with the furniture.

It’s not the first time we’ve exposed this kind of trouble — just the latest. A big brawl like that is not rare in that detention center.

Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court issued a statement shedding light on the cause of the violence and the fallout.

“The vast majority of the youth detained in our Detention Center are charged with a violent crime.  Sadly, the violence that brought them to the Court’s attention does not cease once they are admitted. In fact, at times it intensifies as residents mix with other youth with whom they have had problems in the community in the past. This makes disturbances such as the one that occurred on 9/13/24 inevitable. Though incidents in correctional facilities are difficult to understand and upsetting to watch, our staff responded quickly and professionally. Our Detention Center Staff have an incredibly difficult job which they perform with dedication and compassion.

“ Each youth who participated in the disturbance will face consequences for their actions. The Court has also begun the process of transferring five of the youth who initiated the incident to the County Jail. The Court will also submit video and incident reports to the Prosecutors’ Office for every youth involved in the disturbance. The charges deemed appropriate by the Prosecutors’ Office will be added to the offense(s) that led to their admission.”

Meanwhile, a citizens group has started looking at ways to settle down the facility and work with the kids locked up there.

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