CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Division of Police is investigating several car and street takeovers that disturbed communities and caused I-90 Westbound to shut down and stop traffic Saturday night.
CPD called a news conference Sunday morning to discuss the events that occurred Saturday.
You can watch the conference in the player below:
‘These are felony crimes’ Cleveland police investigating dangerous car meets
According to Police Chief Annie Todd, vehicles shut down the freeway and stopped traffic on I-90 Westbound around West 14th Street.
“While they were out there they did start shooting out fireworks and attempted to light fires throughout the roadway,” said Todd, “fortunately the roads were wet to prevent that from happening.”
Officers responded to several locations and tried to stop the vehicles from spinning in intersections and cars from gathering, Todd said.
Those locations include West 25th and Loraine, East 105th and MLK, and East 55th and Woodland.
Greg Gacka lives near West 25th and Lorain. He said he watched Sunday’s car meet from where he resides.
“Cars pull up. They park on the street, both sides of the street and then people go in the intersection and do donuts for 30 to 45 minutes,” Gacka said. “Last night, they even set off fireworks. Few weeks ago, they lit the street on fire.”
Todd said those involved attempted to light the road on fire, but the wet ground prevented it from igniting.
Individuals shot airsoft guns in addition to the fireworks, Todd said.
“There were airsoft guns that were fired at our members… one officer of our officers was struck with the airsoft weapon,” said Todd. “We had reports that there were firearms pointed at citizens throughout this incidents.”
The University Circle Police Department says they responded to one of the locations at East 105th Street and Martin Luther King Jr Drive, and an officer was struck on the right side of his face with pellets, but no significant injuries were reported. The officer’s car was struck, and no arrests have been made.
Todd also says there were no reports of serious injuries from the community or serious damage throughout the city.
“But this is still terrifying,” Todd said.
The chief says these takeovers are happening nationwide and have happened recently in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Columbus and Cincinnati.
According to Todd, the department received reports that someone from Cincinnati organized a group to come to Cleveland for the takeovers to happen —using social media to spread the word.
Todd says police confirmed that some vehicles were from out of the city, but others were local.
“This is more than a traffic issue,” Todd explained. “These are felony crimes.”
Todd said arrests were made, but did not state how many individuals were cuffed nor their connection to the incident.
The Cleveland Police Department is looking for those who participated in the burnouts, but it’s hitting an obstacle as some license plates were “fictitious.”
“We will continue to investigate this and we will work to identify all involved,” Todd said.
Gacka said he’s disappointed to see the car meet up happen for a third time near his residence. He fears it will drive both visitors and residents from the area.
“You can build 10 domed stadiums, and you can renovate the west side market, and you can build lakefront development and all that stuff. But if this kind of activity is going to go on in the city, there isn’t going to be anybody to go to the dome stadiums or to shop at the west side market or to enjoy the lakefront,” Gacka exaplined.
What’s been going on?
There have been numerous car meet-ups across Cleveland that have disrupted traffic, closed off intersections and caused a disturbance in different Cleveland communities.
News 5 previously reported a street takeover during Memorial Day weekend that shut down intersections and set a fire under the chandelier in Playhouse Square.
‘Extremely dangerous:’ Daredevil drivers shut down Cleveland intersections, set fire to Playhouse Square
In June, Ohio lawmakers pushed for a bill that cracked down on reckless driving across the state.
Ohio Lawmaker pushing for bill to crackdown on street take overs, drifting and fleeing police
RELATED: Ohio lawmaker pushing for bill to crack down on street takeovers, drifting and fleeing police
In August, four people were hurt in a shoutout that happened at a car meet. A witness captured the gunfire in his dash camera.
“Out of nowhere, the gunshots just happened, lasted about 30 seconds,” said one witness.
4 hurt in 2nd shootout in same Cleveland community in 1 week
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A 17-year-old teen was among those shot.
“As soon as one gets shut down by police, you look at your phone and there’s already another location. Everyone’s already going to the next location,” the 17-year-old told News 5.
News 5 investigator Tara Morgan spoke to the teen and had an exclusive one-on-one with Chief Annie Todd about the dangerous takeovers.
‘This is a priority’; Exclusive 1-on-1 with Cleveland’s police chief about dangerous car meets and takeovers
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