CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Division of Police is investigating several car and street takeovers that disturbed communities and caused I-90 Westbound to shut down and stop traffic Saturday night.
CPD called a news conference Sunday morning to discuss the events that occurred Saturday.
You can watch the conference in the player below:
According to Police Chief Annie Todd, vehicles shut down the freeway and stopped traffic on I-90 Westbound around West 14th Street.
"While they were out there they did start shooting out fireworks and attempted to light fires throughout the roadway," said Todd, "fortunately the roads were wet to prevent that from happening."
Officers responded to several locations and tried to stop the vehicles from spinning in intersections and cars from gathering, Todd said.
Individuals shot airsoft guns in addition to the fireworks, Todd said.
"There were airsoft guns that were fired at our members... one officer of our officers was struck with the airsoft weapon," said Todd. "We had reports that there were firearms pointed at citizens throughout this incidents."
The University Circle Police Department says they responded to one of the locations at East 105th Street and Martin Luther King Jr Drive, and an officer was struck on the right side of his face with pellets, but no significant injuries were reported. The officer's car was struck, and no arrests have been made.
Todd also says there were no reports of serious injuries from the community or serious damage throughout the city.
"But this is still terrifying," Todd said.
The chief says these takeovers are happening nationwide and have happened recently in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Columbus and Cincinnati.
According to Todd, the department received reports that someone from Cincinnati organized a group to come to Cleveland for the takeovers to happen —using social media to spread the word.
Todd says police confirmed that some vehicles were from out of the city, but others were local.
"This is more than a traffic issue," Todd explained. "These are felony crimes."
It was not confirmed whether arrests were made for the incidents Saturday night.
"We will continue to investigate this and we will work to identify all involved," Todd said.
The car meets and street takeovers have happened week after week in the city. News 5 has shown you videos of the chaos, the burnouts and property damage.
