Suspect charged in violent Cleveland street takeover

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CLEVELAND (WJW) — Cleveland police have identified the suspect arrested earlier this week in a series of violent street takeovers at the end of September.

Jordan Cortez McDonald, 25, of South Euclid , faces felony counts of aggravated riot, tampering with evidence, failure to comply with a police order, disrupting public services and possession of criminal tools in a Sept. 29 street takeover at Lee Road and Miles Avenue in Cleveland.

McDonald was arrested outside the city on Tuesday by members of a special city task force investigating the recent series of street takeovers, as well as SWAT officers, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd told reporters on Tuesday.

Video obtained by the FOX 8 I-Team shows people jumping on police cars, lighting fires and setting off fireworks. The University Heights police chief told the I-Team that one of their officers was shot with a BB gun. Another officer, who was off-duty, was beaten.

Investigators believe McDonald’s car, which was also seized, was seen on video circling a police cruiser, Todd said Tuesday. Investigators as of Tuesday were still trying to determine whether McDonald was the driver.

Gauge Michael Thomas Franklin, 18, of Akron, and John Alan Dietrich, 20, of Barberton, were indicted last week on charges of aggravated riot and arson, among others, in a mid-September street takeover. A 17-year-old from Norton has also been charged in the county juvenile court.

Prosecutors allege Franklin, Dietrich and the 17-year-old boy illegally shut down the intersection of West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 15.

About 20 vehicles, including electric scooters and bikes, blocked the road, did doughnuts in the intersection and slowed down an ambulance that was on its way to the hospital, according to the release.

Investigators said the juvenile poured accelerant taken from Franklin’s vehicle on the street then Dietrich ignited it, creating a ring of fire.

Video and photos of the takeovers released to the public have generated “hundreds” of tips that police continue to pursue, Todd said on Tuesday.

“The community is angry,” she said. “We’ve had very active tips from the community because they don’t want this in their neighborhoods.”

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