CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County councilman wants to bring in the sheriff to explain a chase that happened this past weekend involving his deputies that ended in a deadly crash.
The county said the chase started on March 28 around 10 p.m. after a car was seen driving erratically on East 9th Street in Downtown Cleveland.
Deputies saw the vehicle failing to stop at a red light and recklessly crossing multiple lanes of traffic; the county said it was believed he was driving impaired.
Deputies initiated a traffic stop, but when the car wouldn't stop, they pursued the car east on Interstate 90.
At the crash site, the field below the concrete barrier was littered with car parts and police tape.
During the chase with deputies, the driver sped out of Downtown, exited I-90 at Eddy Road, and slammed into another car, sending it over the traffic bridge.
Both cars caught fire.
The man the county said that deputies were trying to stop died in the crash. A woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time was seriously hurt.
The man has since been identified as 24-year-old Nigel Wayne Perry, according to the county.
RELATED: 1 dead, 1 in critical condition after pursuit ends in fiery crash
Deputies are known to patrol Downtown Cleveland streets and have been doing so since August 2023. The Downtown Safety Patrol has been contentious for Cuyahoga County council members.
“I don’t want to see somebody on the ground that we’re going to have to pay for,” said Public Safety Committee Chair Mike Gallagher in January.
At that January meeting, Pretel stood firm on his safety patrol, which he wants to expand its reach. The sheriff also didn’t answer questions about a safety patrol deputy shooting a 15-year-old boy last October.
The county only released footage of that shooting in February after News 5 Investigators and the Marshall Project-Cleveland pressed for video and answers.
Pretel also changed his body camera policy to release video within seven days.
RELATED: Sheriff's Department Delayed Release of Body Camera Footage in Teen's Shooting
“Right now, as far as I see, if this Downtown unit did something, you are personally on the hook with the executive,” Gallagher said at the January safety committee meeting.
Today, Gallagher told News 5 he wasn’t advised about the deadly chase and called it disturbing.
In two weeks, Gallagher wants Pretel to explain to the council what happened, saying, “It’s unacceptable and unfortunately predictable.”
The sheriff's pursuit policy shows that deputies can start a chase when a driver ignores a signal to stop. Several factors come into play, including whether the driver is a serious threat to public safety.
Deputies are also supposed to ask a supervisor for permission.
But again, we don’t know all the circumstances since the county has declined interviews.
