CLEVELAND — Cleveland homicide detectives have arrested two 17-year-old males in connection with the shooting death of a Lyft driver last week.
Cleveland Police spokesperson Wilfredo Diaz said that homicide detectives worked with Phoenix investigators on the case as it appeared the person who ordered the ride was in Arizona.
"They had the information that we needed to identify the suspects who were actually still here in the city of Cleveland," said Diaz.
Diaz said that person, described as an acquaintance of the teens, was not knowingly involved in the crime and is not expected to face charges.
Instead, police were able to get warrants for the two 17-year-olds who were arrested Monday morning at a home in the 6600 block of Harvard Avenue.
According to Diaz, detectives also seized two guns.
"It's sad to someone at that young age have the intention or desire to commit this type of crime," said Diaz. "It's difficult even for experienced investigators to know that someone at the age of 17 is committing this type of crime."
The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. on Feb. 10 in the 2400 block of East 84th Street. Police responded to the area after a car crashed into a dumpster. Officers found the driver, 27-year-old Vasyl Shvets, of Parma, slumped over the steering wheel after having been shot. Shvets was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"This senseless homicide brought uncalled-for suffering to the family of Mr. Shvets, and our hearts go out to the family. Though we cannot change the actions taken by these individuals, we are committed to bringing justice. Our Homicide Unit worked tirelessly around the clock, locally and out of state, to arrest these suspects. We will continue to bring justice to the families affected by this crime,” Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said in the news release.
A friend told News 5 that Shvets came to Ohio fleeing war in his home country, Ukraine.
Dmytro Kasiyan said his family was still processing news of the arrests on Monday and wasn't ready to comment publicly.
But Kasiyan wants to see the 17-year-olds prosecuted as adults and face the maximum penalty for killing Shvets.
"We as friends, as family, don't understand for what?" said Kasiyan. "Why? I guess it's the type of question you ask when you hear about a 27-year-old young person that is about to be married, killed in the line of work."
Cleveland police said investigators are working to determine a motive for the deadly shooting.
The teens remain in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Facility awaiting charges.
Shvets' death was the second time in a 27-hour span that a rideshare driver was killed in Cleveland.
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On Feb. 8, just before 10 p.m., Cleveland officers responded to the area of East 103rd Street and Rosehill Avenue after a 56-year-old man crashed his vehicle into a guardrail on a residential street — it was later determined that the driver, Antoine Latham, had been shot in the head.
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RELATED: Lyft driver shot, killed in Cleveland
On Feb. 11, a 20-year-old Garfield Heights man, Derreck Dove, was arrested in connection with Latham's death. It's unclear in that case if the 20-year-old was the person who ordered the rideshare.
