CLEVELAND — After a series of "street takeovers" last month impacted multiple locations in Cleveland as suspects stopped traffic, pointed guns at people, lit fireworks and attempted to start fires -- Cleveland City Council has introduced legislation to "toughen street racing laws."
According to council, the new ordinance would "amend the city's street racing laws to prohibit additional actions and behaviors." The new prohibitions would include:
- Blocking intersections
- Burnouts
- Doughnuts
- Drifting (a sideways skid)
- Stunt driving
- Wheelies
“We need to get the attention of these street outlaws, who think this is the wild, wild west and they can do anything they like on our Cleveland roads and parking lots,” said Ward 8 Councilman Mike Polensek, a sponsor of the new legislation, in a statement. Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack is also a co-sponsor of the legislation.
City council adds that the new legislation "would also make vehicle components subject to seizure and forfeiture, including but not limited to steering wheels, wheels and tires and mufflers, or any part of the vehicle or component that was adapted for use in street takeovers, stunt driving or racing."
“This behavior is unacceptable and has put our citizens, visitors and businesses at risk,” added Cleveland City Council President Blaine A. Griffin. “The morale of the city has been shaken. We want action and that’s why we’re are taking this important step. We have to hold people accountable.”
In its release, Cleveland City Council noted that the new ordinance "will conform to changes in state law," which become effective later this month. "The penalty for violation has not been changed from the current city code and is the same as state law: a 1st degree misdemeanor and at least a 30 day suspension of the driver’s license as well as the same penalty for anyone who assists them."
Cleveland City Council's Safety Committee held a hearing on the street takeover problem last week. Chief of Police Annie Todd gave an in-depth explanation regarding the various incidents, the investigation and what's next.
Among the steps the Cleveland Division of Police has taken since the most recent street takeovers on Sept. 28-29 is assembling a task force to gather data from all street incidents and work to make arrests. Police are also looking at milling portions of intersections which would disable vehicles that attempt stunt driving.
3News' Kaitor Kay reached out to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb's office for an update on the investigation into street takeovers. Below is the city's response:
The Administration launched an internal task force to address these street takeovers. It is being led by our Division of Police and includes detectives from all 5 districts who are investigating these specific crimes — with support from the Traffic Bureau, Gang Impact and Narcotics Units, and crime analysts — to hold these criminals accountable. We have also been in communication with our local, state, and federal partners to support these efforts.
Furthermore, we’re having conversations with leaders in other cities to explore additional methods we can utilize to tackle this issue head-on — such as implementing street milling and deploying rubber pellets in high traffic volume areas where these takeovers occur.
We’re using every tool in the toolbox to not only address these on the front end as they occur, but also on the back end to bring justice down upon these criminals through the courts system — including a new, more expansive State law that will take effect in a few weeks.
We also need the community’s help and are encouraging anyone who has information to please provide it to the Division of Police. The email address and phone number are both in the video posted on our social media pages last week. The sheer volume of content on the internet is immeasurable, often restricted by privacy settings, and can quickly be deleted — which is exactly why we need the community’s help to monitor and alert Police when they discover anything related to these crimes. That includes details as they are being planned and/or taking place in real-time, as well as providing information after they occur. It’s important to stress that latter part, as those too are tips we can act on that may lead to a huge break in a case. If you see something, screenshot something, and send it to Police.