CLEVELAND — Police are investigating an early morning carjacking that took place Wednesday at the intersection of East 9th and Carnegie Avenue in downtown Cleveland.
According to a release from the Cleveland Division of Police, the incident happened at the BP Station on 900 Carnegie Avenue just before 1:15 a.m. A female victim was pumping gas into her vehicle (later identified as as a BMW) when an individual got into her car through the passenger side door and moved into the driver's seat.
The victim attempted to block the carjacking by standing in front of the vehicle. Meanwhile, police say a second suspect pointed "an AK-47 style weapon at the victim."
The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) Police Department confirmed to 3News that they were contacted by Cleveland police to help look for a stolen BMW and a red GMC that was used by the suspects in the carjacking.
CMHA Police Chief Andy Gonzalez told 3News' Kaitor Kay that around 3:30 a.m., one of his officers spotted a red GMC at East 22nd Street and Cedar Avenue. That area is roughly a half-mile away from the crime scene.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the GMC fled from the scene. The pursuit lasted for approximately three miles before the officer lost the GMC at East 83rd Street and Central Avenue.
3News asked City of Cleveland Assistant Director of Public Safety Nicole Carlton if city surveillance will be a factor in the investigation.
"I know there was an incident that happened and it's currently under investigation," she responded. "We have cameras in that area, and they will be used to assist with the investigation."
While the city's public safety division can't comment in detail on the case, they are talking about the bigger picture of how surveillance cameras help them solve crimes.
Carlton said since July they've been aggressively pushing their Safe Smart CLE program - a network of city, business, and residential cameras that can be used in police investigations.
Right now, it has more than 2,500 cameras.
As of September 13, 2023, they have 2,212 "integrated cameras." These are cameras owned by the city and by their community business partners.
These integrated cameras have Integrated cameras are equipped with live feeds into the city's real time crime center. Cleveland officials say at least 1,900 of the integrated cameras are city-owned.
There are also 326 "registered cameras" as of September 13, which are cameras registered by small business owners and homeowners.
“We started doing a big push in July this year, and since that time, we've quadrupled our number of residents who actually allowed us to know that they had cameras," Carlton said. "So, in the event of an incident that happens in their neighborhood, it assists the division of police in knowing that there's cameras in that area and they can just go to the homeowner to view their cameras and see if there's anything that they have of value for their investigation.”
She believes Safe Smart CLE will help Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb in his mission to reduce the city's violent crime.
"Cameras assist with investigations, and cameras can be, for some individuals, a deterrent, knowing that they will be on camera," she said. "If your face is on the camera, you can't hide from anybody. But if we build a network, a spider web so to speak, and blanket the city with residents, small businesses, bigger businesses, apartments, as well as the city cameras, we will cover every square inch of the city."
Carlton said she hopes to build their network up to 15,000 cameras.
"I have lofty goals for that, and I hope the community understands when it comes to keeping Cleveland safe, it's not just about police, fire, and EMS," she explained. "It's about the community engaging and being part of that community response to public safety.”
Small business owners and homeowners can sign up their cameras at connectcleveland.org.
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