CLEVELAND — After responding to a man who had fallen from an eighth story balcony at an apartment in The Flats, Cleveland police searched the apartment and found a large amount of narcotics and weapons.
Around 1:30 p.m., police responded to the 1000 block of West 11th Street after receiving a report that a man was injured after falling from a balcony, police said.
Once on scene, officers and EMS found Derrol McCladdie, who had fallen from the eighth story balcony of the apartments above Punch Bowl Social, a popular bar in The Flats, according to police. McCladdie later died from his injuries.
Officers searched the apartment from which McCladdie fell and found the suspected narcotics and weapons, according to police.
Authorities closed Front Street to West 9th Street to incoming traffic while they handled the situation, police said.
The bomb squad and hazmat units were called to the scene for precautionary measures and authorities seized the drugs and weapons, police said.
The owner of a restaurant near the crime scene told News 5 he heard what he thought was a car crashing into a tree, but when he looked outside, that was not the case.
Punch Bowl Social was full of people having lunch when McCladdie fell from eight stories up and landed just feet from the restaurant patio.
Aaron Wendel said he was walking his dogs outside when he heard the commotion.
“Usually it’s super relaxed... I mean nothing like this,” Wendel said. “We kind of had the dogs barking and we just figured it was because of the Air Show and then come to find out there’s all these cops down here.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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