CLEVELAND — The summer season hasn’t even started, yet dangerous drivers are at it again in Cleveland.
One of last year’s street takeovers paralyzed the city for hours.
News 5 Investigators sat down with Cleveland Police Chief Annie Todd to find out if there was a new plan with summer just weeks away.
“When you look at it, it was one day,” Todd said.
But the September 28 and 29, 2024, street takeover paralyzed different parts of the city for hours.
“But these are things that are happening in other cities in other states every single day,” Chief Todd said.
News 5 Investigators showed you the takeovers from the summer and fall of 2024 that culminated with an interstate shutdown in that late September takeover.
Masked mob confronts party bus during I-90 takeover.
"They're swarming us man,” heard in a video from a party bus attacked by a masked mob.
In other parts of the city, police were shot at with airsoft guns, ambulances faced delays trying to get through blocked intersections where burnouts and donuts happened for entertainment.
Earlier in September 2024, traffic was stalled at the intersection at W. 25th Street and Lorain Avenue.
Ohio City intersection lit on fire during street takeover.
“They poured gasoline in the intersection, kind of a ring of fire,” a 911 caller said.
There was also brazen behavior with people banging on police cruisers and gun battles near gas stations and in shopping center parking lots.
Teen shot during August 2024 shopping center car meet.
There were no immediate consequences for the street chaos, but in the months since, police made arrests.
Did all of the dangerous driving just go away with some major players behind bars? Not entirely.
“Last summer, the summers before it was weekends, now it’s all the time,” Greg Gacka said.
Gacka, who lives in Ohio City, says dirt bikers are back making noise at W. 25th Street and Lorain Avenue.
It’s the same spot as last year, where drivers in souped-up cars held up traffic for dangerous stunts.
News 5 Investigators asked Gacka if he thought it’s a precursor of what’s to come this summer.
“Oh, I hope not but if it is, we're all in trouble,” Gacka said.
But just weeks ago in Cleveland, police notified dispatchers of cars doing donuts in the street.
In one case on the west side, Real Time Crime cameras captured a large group recording stunt driving and burnouts.
Car parts and what appears to be fresh tread could be seen in a giant parking lot that is known as a car meet hot spot for the police.
Police cleared the shopping center lot on W. 65th Street near Storer Avenue and ticketed two teens for trespassing.
“So we are finding that the gatherings still continue, nowhere in what we saw last year, our cars are going out there they’re addressing it,” Todd said.
Todd says takeover details will be watched at hotspots this summer.
“When you look at the police action when you say that they didn’t chase them or they didn’t stop them we’re still gathering plates we’re still gathering the information related to the participants," Todd said.
Police drones were purchased in February 2024. They’re grounded for now but could be up by the summer.
But police won’t get stop sticks, like Columbus police used when they arrested nearly 200 people days after the crippling city-wide takeover in Cleveland.
Columbus police arrest nearly 200 in Operation Burnout last October.
“We haven’t gotten that far to talk about next steps but we are researching, is there something better,” Todd said.“Is there anything new?” we asked.
“We saw a lot of what we did last year worked,” Todd said.
Todd also points to amendments just approved to the city property nuisance law.
It holds property owners accountable for what happens on their lots.
Cleveland property owners on the hook for what happens on their lots.
"Are you confident with the staffing should we see another summer like last year with these takeovers?”
“I can’t predict what is going to happen this summer but I can tell you that we put more people on the street and we've kept more people here,” Todd said.
In Ohio City, Gacka says he occasionally calls 911 for excessive motorcycle noise.
“They seem to be aware of things,” Gacka said.
“Which might be comforting,” we said.
“I guess but again if there’s no response other than a 911 dispatcher yeah we saw it on camera then where do we sit,” Gacka said.
He wants a quieter summer than last.
“You don’t sound hopeful,” we said.“I don’t know, Chief Todd having a plan or the concept of a plan or whatever. I haven't heard anything about it except from talking to you,” Gacka said.
The property owner of the Lee Harvard Shopping Center on the east side offered a storefront to Cleveland police for more visibility.
Violent crime reduction details will be out too.
Todd says they’ll adjust plans if they need to.
