CLEVELAND — News 5 Investigators have uncovered dramatic surveillance video of suspected car thieves who careened into a power pole.
We confirmed East Cleveland police were in a pursuit but called off the chase before the crash.
The new police chief is now trying to figure out what happened.
A local business shared with News 5 surveillance video from East 78th and Superior.
It was just after midnight Monday when a speeding SUV took out a light pole and nearly barreled through a chain link fence before stopping.
Seconds later, you see people on the street walk up and pull injured people from the wreckage.
So, what led up to all of this?
East Cleveland police records show an officer spotted a white Kia running a red light at Hayden and Woodworth Avenues. The officer got an alert that the SUV was stolen.
Police body camera shows the police calling off the chase, and his vehicle was having problems.
"I'm going to call it — I can't get up there due to vehicle safety. I'm going to terminate it,” said the officer.
East Cleveland’s new chief, Brian Gerhard, was just sworn in last week. He’s under pressure with nine officers, including the former chief, indicted since last August.
RELATED: East Cleveland welcomes new police chief as department faces pressure
"Car chases are not going to be a thing that I'm going to be happy with — they're going to be slowed down,” said Chief Brian Gerhard.
Gerhard told News 5 Investigator Tara Morgan he came in on his day off today and ordered the officers in to figure out what happened with this chase.
Gerhard confirmed officers terminated the chase at Superior and Ansel in Cleveland. He says he doesn't like his officers leaving the city unless it's a serious a offense, and it's policy to notify other jurisdictions they're coming in.
From the Cleveland city line on Superior to where the chase was terminated at Ansel, East Cleveland officers were just over a mile into Cleveland.
"Looking down the street I can see some lights flashing. I believe the vehicle crashed. I'm going to go check near 105, do not pursue that vehicle, terminate and return back to the city," an officer said over the radio.
About a half mile further down Superior, the SUV crashed.
Cleveland EMS says it took three adults to University Hospital in serious condition.
"They're not going to keep wrecking my police cars because what this chase is something for a damn tinted window, what's that going to gain us? I don't care about that stuff. You guys get carjacked, a homicide, yeah, I'm going to chase that person, absolutely I'm going to chase them,” said Gerhard last week.
Gerhard says officers can call off chases themselves or the supervisor on duty can make the decision to stop.
The chief told Morgan he was not happy about this chase. He says right now, he doesn’t know if his dispatcher told Cleveland his officers were coming into the city.
He says the officers have a lot of answering to do.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
