CLEVELAND — Cleveland Refine Church Pastor Luis Vizcarrondo reports his church was again the victim of another attempted break-in, as business owners along the Broadview Road business corridor report the same issues.
Vizcarrondo recently improved security after News 5 reported on a series of burglaries at the church back in September 2023, with crooks stealing thousands in tools and audio equipment. Vizcarrondo said he's concerned all the crime will make it hard for his church to maintain insurance coverage.
“We’ve had issues now with the insurance company and other insurance companies seeing this as a high risk area," Vizcarrondo said. “How can we come up with a concrete action plans to truly address these crime issues in order to avoid things like this.”
Break-ins were also reported at the All Seasons Tanning salon on Dec. 15 and Metropolitan Coffee on Dec. 17. Both businesses are also located on Broadview Road in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood, both businesses were victimized by two crooks who forced their way in during the early morning hours while being recorded on security cameras.
Ward 13 Cleveland Councilman Kris Harsh told News 5 that the ongoing Cleveland police officer shortage is playing a role in the recent burglary hike.
“It breaks my heart, we work so hard to get businesses to open up, people to move into the neighborhood and start their livelihood," Harsh said. “It’s no secret Cleveland is short hundreds of police officers and this is entirely related to that, and if we don’t have enough patrol officers working in the City of Cleveland then we can’t make enough promotions to staff these important units to go out and catch these criminals.”
Harsh said state statistics indicate an officer shortage impact. Cleveland issued 117,000 traffic citations in 2013 and just 19,100 citations in 2023, nearly an 85% decrease.
"When we hear about another break-in it’s just another setback for someone who is working terribly hard," Harsh said.
Meanwhile, anyone with information about the burglaries along Broadview Road in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood is being asked to contact Cleveland Police Second District Detective Janet Murphy by calling 216-623-5217.
