EUCLID, Ohio — The Euclid Police Department has released the report about an off-duty Cleveland police officer accused of trying to kidnap a 12-year-old girl and then urinating on her last week.
The police report states that on Aug. 16, the seventh-grade girl left her home, walked to a corner on Euclid Avenue and sat down to wait for her school bus to arrive.
A few minutes later, Officer Solomon Nhiwatiwa, 34, drove by in a blue SUV and waved at her but continued on, the report states. Nhiwatiwa eventually made a U-turn, drove back and stopped in front of her.
According to the report, Nhiwatiwa asked the girl what she was doing, and she told him she was waiting for her school bus. Nhiwatiwa asked her if he could drive her there and she responded, “no thanks.” Next, Nhiwatiwa told the girl he wanted to ask her some questions. She told him no, and then he asked for her name. He continued to ask her questions, but the girl made it clear she didn’t want to talk to him. Nhiwatiwa rolled up his window and then drove off.
About a minute later, the girl spotted Nhiwatiwa walking up the sidewalk towards her. Nhiwatiwa had his penis outside of his pants and was holding it in one hand and a cellphone in another and it appeared he was filming the incident, the report said.
According to the report, Nhiwatiwa urinated on the girl’s head, upper body and legs. When the girl asked him, “what his problem was,” Nhiwatiwa responded, “What’s your problem b*tch” and then walked away while continuing to film her.
The seventh-grader called her mother on FaceTime and told her what had occurred and then walked home. The girl’s mother gathered the urine-soaked clothing, placed it in a plastic bag and went to the Euclid Police Department to make a report, authorities said. The mother said that a records room employee told her there were no available officers at the time to take a report, but she could wait if she wanted to. The mother was told that a one-hour wait time was probable. The mother and her daughter decided they would return to report the incident at a later time. She dropped her daughter off at school and returned to work, then later completed a written statement.
An officer who was investigating the case noted that the suspect and vehicle matched a description of another incident someone had recently reported. In that case, a Euclid resident told police that a man was acting suspicious and standing in her driveway. The woman took down the license plate number of the man’s car and reported it to authorities, the report states.
Cleveland police have confirmed that Nhiwatiwa's shift ended at midnight on the day of the attack. It was during that six-hour window after the end of his shift and before the attack on the girl that he was spotted acting suspiciously another Euclid resident.
“It just shows his deviant-type of behavior, that he got off work at midnight, chose not to go home and instead is driving around the streets of Euclid apparently looking for prey," Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley said. “That to me is disturbing. Clearly the guy, unlike most normal people who get off work and go home and rest, and get ready for the next day of work—apparently he was out and about at 6 a.m. prowling that neighborhood.”
Police later showed the seventh-grader a photo lineup of multiple individuals and the girl picked out Nhiwatiwa’s photo. Police obtained his BMV photo after running the license plate the other woman reported, authorities said. The girl told police she was 75% certain that Nhiwatiwa was the man who accosted her and 100% certain the other photos she was shown were not the suspect.
Nhiwatiwa is five-year veteran of the Cleveland Police Department, most recently assigned to Third District. He has been suspended from duty and his case is being investigated by CPD’s Internal Affairs Unit.
He faces charges of attempted kidnapping, criminal child enticement, public indecency, pandering obscenity involving a minor, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, endangering children, assault and attempted interference of custody, according to court records.
Nhiwatiwa is scheduled to appear in Court on Aug. 26.
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