Appearing at the news conference as a unified front and speaking in strong terms, Cleveland City and Cuyahoga County officials spoke Wednesday about the callous beating of a man at a gas station early Tuesday morning by over a dozen juveniles and broadly about the epidemic of youth violence gripping the area.
Cleveland Police and city officials announced the arrest of a dozen teens for a "brutal" and "horrific" attack on a 34-year-old man at the gas station near East 140th Street and St. Clair Avenue Tuesday morning.
The 12 individuals arrested range in age from 12 to 17 years old, and 11 of them are currently being held in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center.
According to authorities, the teens "viciously attacked (the man), repeatedly punching him and pointing guns in his face, before he was able to run inside the gas station."
Officials played surveillance video of the beating at the news conference Wednesday. Watch it in the player below:
"When I watched this video early yesterday morning, I was disgusted and appalled watching the level of violence directed at someone who appears to be simply doing nothing but sitting outside of a gas station," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley. "Several minutes later, the situation turns to complete chaos. Dozens of bullets are fired indiscriminately down St. Clair Avenue, and it could have caused a great deal of destruction. Thankfully, no one was injured by these dozens of bullets."
Before driving away, the teens fired shots at another vehicle, authorities said.
"Now, I believe in our investigation, and our investigators will prove more to this point that they're probably involved in multiple incidents," said Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond. "We believe that we have a group of folks out there who call themselves the 'Kia Boys.' We believe these individuals are part of that, as well, with all the stolen Kias and the weapons that they have. And they're very callous in their behaviors and their actions and so forth."
When police responded to the scene, they spotted two white Hyundais and a black SUV "driving at a dangerously high rate of speed, with occupants hanging out of the car windows."
The three vehicles that the teens fled the scene were two Kias and one Hyundai, all stolen, according to Cleveland Police officials.
Later that morning, officers were sent to a nearby home for screams heard coming from it. When they arrived, police said that officers found two white Hyundais parked at the house. The resident gave officers permission to come in, where they found multiple teens hiding in the basement.
Authorities said that two of the teens were armed, and several others needed medical care for what appeared to be injuries sustained in a car crash. Thirteen were detained, and police had probable cause to charge 12 of them, said Cuyahoga County's Juvenile Division Chief Brett Kyker.
Of the 12 charged, nine of them were male, and three were female, all ranging in age from 12 to 17 years old. Eleven of the juveniles were admitted to the detention center Tuesday, and the 12th juvenile, a 12-year-old female with no prior record, was released on a home monitor as part of the juvenile court's car theft pilot program.
All 12 juveniles have been arraigned on charges of receiving stolen property and a motor vehicle, as police were able to place them in the three stolen vehicles at the gas station. Seven of the 12 were charged with felonious assault and aggravated riot for their participation in the assault on the 34-year-old man. Seven of the 12 were charged with improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle. One was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Five were charged with having a weapon while under a disability due to prior adjudication for violence or outstanding warrants. Two of the 12 were charged with discharging a firearm on or near a prohibited premises and criminal damaging.
"This brutal attack and use of guns is just one horrific recent example of the rising violence we have seen this summer," said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. "As I've previously stated, we are using the full weight of the law to hold criminals accountable and put them on notice that these actions will not be tolerated."
Officials Wednesday asked for the public's help in identifying two people seen at the gas station who has not yet been apprehended - a male in a tan hoodie seen firing a gun from the rear of one of the Kias and a juvenile in a gray hoodie seen holding an AR-style rifle.
Anyone with information about the identities of the two people police are still looking for or more information about the incident is asked to call the Cleveland Police Fifth District at 216-623-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 216-252-CRIME.
'Animalistic behavior'
During the news conference, Bibb, Drummond, O'Malley, Cleveland Councilman Mike Polensek and Councilman Anthony Hairston all spoke broadly about the recurring incidents of violence being committed by the youth in the city, what they are doing to stem it, and what they're asking from government agencies at all levels, as well as the public at large.
"As you can see in the video, this behavior is unconscionable, immoral and, quite frankly, unacceptable in our city," Bibb said. "And as I said last week, our administration will not spare any expense to keep our city safe. It's going to take every part of our community, from the prosecutor's office to our courts, to law enforcement at every level, to keep our city safe and secure."
Bibb reiterated steps the city is taking to curb the violence and hold those responsible accountable.
"We will continue to be as aggressive as we possibly can to make sure we hold these juveniles and anyone else in our city committing criminal behavior accountable," Bibb said. "It is not acceptable, and I've instructed the chief and our command staff to use every tool in our arsenal to be aggressive, to keep our city safe."
Bibb spoke about safe activities and out-of-school programs offered by the city, saying every young person "should have someone to do in our community."
Drummond elaborated on how law enforcement plans to keep violent offenders like those arrested Tuesday off the streets.
"I'm not a proponent of mass incarceration. Let's get that clear. I am not," he said. "But I am a proponent of keeping our neighborhoods safe. And if that means putting juveniles violent — that's the key — violent juveniles behind bars to make our neighborhoods safe, then I'm a proponent for that. What we're seeing there is animalistic. And people may come back and say, I can't believe the chief said that but look at that video — to attack that man who was doing absolutely nothing, it's animalistic behavior. And we can't have that in our communities — we'll not accept that."
Councilman Polensek was, as he usually is, also outspoken about the crime taking place in Cleveland.
"What we're dealing with today in the streets of Cleveland are urban terrorists," he said. "Let's make no bones about it. Urban terrorists, what you saw on that screen was terrorism. That's what we have experienced in the last month in the Fifth District. Terrorism, people afraid to sit on their front porches, people afraid to go to church. Think about that. Afraid to go to church. For fear of their cars being broken in. You can't go to Bible study on Wednesday night for fear of being accosted."
City officials called on state and federal leaders to pass common-sense gun laws that would help take guns off the streets of Cleveland.
This city, this county, and quite frankly, this state is becoming saturated with guns," O'Malley said. "The state legislature has made the accessibility and the availability of guns, with their continuation of liberalizing gun laws to the point where you don't even have to be licensed to carry one, an added hurdle in our effort to keep the residents of Cleveland in Cuyahoga County safe."
Officials also renewed calls for all residents of Cleveland to speak out to law enforcement when they see something, noting that the officers were called to the home where they arrested 12 juveniles due to a resident calling in a tip.
"We all should be upset; we all should be in rage," Hairston said. "So no more — if you see them, hear them sitting in your house with you, with your grandkids or your kids, you hear the conversation, you don't say nothing — that's over with. Or you see them next door or at the vacant house, hanging out, and you hear what they're talking about, and you say nothing — that's over with. Time out. We all have a part to play in this. We are calling on every single person to do their part to help ensure that these individuals who live, work and play in these communities have a safe environment."
Authorities ask that residents continue to report illegal or suspicious activity by calling 911 in emergencies and 216-621-1234 for non-emergencies. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 216-25-CRIME to submit anonymous tips.
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