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Woman says Cleveland police didn't respond to 911 call after man smashed out car windows

Posted at 6:44 AM, Jun 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-26 10:09:21-04

When you dial 911, you dial for help, but as News 5 has reported for months, it's help that's not always coming in Cleveland. 

People claim they're dealing with delayed responses, or sometimes, no police response. That was the case Saturday, according to Katie. Visiting from the suburbs, she didn't want to share her last name with News 5.

She said the man smashed out her car window with his hands while a valet was bringing it back to her. 

"This random man punched out your window, and will get away with it? According to Cleveland police, yes," she said. 

The glass shattered on the valet driver. She said several people dialed 911, but police didn't show up.

"They told me if I was in a smaller suburb maybe they would have addressed my issue, but the city of Cleveland doesn't address it," Katie told News 5.

Eventually, she said a hotel employee stopped an officer who happened to drive down the street.

 
"That officer took my information and said, 'it's just criminal damaging, your insurance will cover it.'"
 

RELATED: News 5 investigation reveals slow 911 response times by Cleveland police

She said her husband followed the man who did it and shared a description and license plate number with police, but Katie says, they won't follow-up.

"'It's a misdemeanor. We don't look at those. It's under $1000,'" she said officers told her after the incident.

Because she paid for the damages out of pocket and knowing the man responsible for them walked away scot free,  it changed the way she sees the city.


"If you have no police support? What's welcoming people to your city?" she asked.
 
According to Cleveland police, priority and response depends on each call, but they say they always respond to every call. As News 5 has detailed in past reports, sometimes that takes a couple days.