CLEVELAND — A summer program in Cleveland aimed at preventing youth crimes is back for a second year. It comes after multiple crimes involving teenagers occurred in the city over the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon at West 123rd Street, there was yet another attempt to steal a Kia vehicle.
Scanner: "West 123, someone tried to steal the caller's vehicle. They assaulted him. He is bleeding from the head."
Cleveland police say there were two suspects trying to steal a Kia Sorento at around 4 p.m. Then, the scanner adds the following.
Scanner: "Be advised. Over here is an off duty from the Fourth District."
An off-duty officer from the Cleveland Division of Police. Investigators say the two suspects, one of them 16 and the other 20, injured the officer by slashing him in the head with a screwdriver.
On Sunday morning, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at West 65th and Clark Avenue. Earlier this month, the body of a teen was found behind an abandoned building.
This is where Hoops After Dark comes in. At least 100 young men signed up for the tryouts that took place Monday at the Cudell Recreation Center on West Blvd.
Hoops After Dark, sponsored by the city of Cleveland and the Cavaliers, is a program designed to keep young men off the streets and on the courts. The basketball format will include NBA-style activities such as tryouts, a draft, and the championship in August at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Herman Jackson is one of the coaches in the program. He says the problems with youth crime in Cleveland is skyrocketing and believes this program can help,
"Bringing this on now at this time is really needed for the youths of today," Jackson says. "This is a great opportunity to get them off the streets so they can compete together and play basketball."
But it's not just about basketball.
Khilo Adkins, who is one of those trying out, is 19 and he has seen many of his friends die from crime on the streets.
"It's definitely a benefit to bring everyone together. Everyone loves basketball. It's nothing but love, you know what I mean? So I think it's pretty good."
Hoops After Dark is helping young men burn their energy shooting hoops, while preventing arguments and crime on the streets.
So the goal of Hoops After Dark is to keep the kids off the streets and prevent the crime like what happened to the off-duty police officer We're told he is at home recovering from his injuries.