CLEVELAND — Cleveland's Holy Grove Missionary Baptist Church is using surveillance video and the hope for a stepped-up police presence to try and slow down alleged crime taking place at a vacant building next door.
Church leader Jack Hill says parishioners at his church are afraid to park their cars on church property over safety concerns after police and church leaders documented alleged drug dealing taking place outside the former Blace Building on E. 130th Street.
“You've got these LLCs that come in and buy properties and just let them sit in our city for no apparent reason, they just sit there," Hill said. "We used to take trips and have cars parked here 48 hours with no problem, now we’re scared.”
Hill believes the City of Cleveland needs to take more action because vagrants hanging out in the vacant building are using the back of the church property as an outdoor bathroom.
“The next time it happens, I’m going to disobey the city, and I’m going to have a fence put up," Hill said. "I want the building torn down; I want the church to be able to take it over so we can make it a parking lot.”
Rob Render, President of East 128 Street Block Club, told News 5 alleged crime in front of the building has 4th district police responding, but when officers leave the scene, a collection of squatters quickly return to the property
“It's a gathering spot for the drug dealers, the prostitutes and other not do wells. They have open sex in the back of the building. They have open drug sales,” Render said. "Police leave, and then within 30 minutes, they’re all back here gathering again 10, 20, 30 strong, so it’s a cat and mouse game.”
Antonie Tolbert, President of New Era Cleveland told News 5 his agency has been doing neighborhood patrols in an effort to control crime, but said the City of Cleveland needs to get more involved.
“I see a community that is being exploited, and nobody seems to care about the safety of people in this community," Tolbert said. “People don’t even feel safe getting out of their cars and go to the gas station to get gas or cigarettes or whatever they need.”
News 5 contacted Cleveland Councilman Blaine Griffin, who confirmed both he and the 4th District Cleveland Police are working to slow down neighborhood crime. News 5 also contacted the building owner and a representative for the company told us the owner will be adding "no trespassing" signs at the property and taking more steps to insure the building will be better secured in the coming weeks.
Render believes the City of Cleveland needs to create some new enforcement efforts when vacant buildings are bought and sold.
“If you don't have point-of-sale inspections at least for apartments and buildings like this, you can just flip these things over and over like shell game," Render said. These LLCs,s need to first make the necessary repairs.”
The Cleveland Buckeye neighborhood groups involved, including the East 130 Street Working Group, said they will host another community meeting on this issue on September 27.
News 5 is committed to following through on this developing story.
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