COLUMBUS, Ohio — A violent street takeover paralyzed the city of Cleveland the weekend of Sept. 28 and 29. One week later, the City of Columbus had a massive crackdown on illegal street racing. Operation Burnout in Columbus nabbed nearly two hundred people in one night. News 5 Investigators traveled to Columbus to see how the city pulled off the mass arrests.
"We’re going out of our way really to send a message," said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein.
So far, Cleveland police have arrested only a few people for the late September takeovers.
One difference we found between the two locations is intel.
Columbus FOP 9 Union President Brian Steel said they got word of the takeover a week in advance from Northeast Ohio agencies, including Cleveland, where Cleveland found out just hours before.
Still, the Cleveland police union president says it comes down to manpower and a culture of fear.
Columbus police released body camera footage of Operation Burnout in response to our public records request.
“We’re going to do a take down there,” a Columbus officer said.
Columbus Police cast a wide net for dozens of dangerous drivers.
“Smoke from the burnouts is running across the runways for the airport,” an officer said over the radio.
First, there was a plan to announce that arrests for criminal trespassing were about to happen.
Then, it was game over for hundreds of people in Operation Burnout.
“We knew they were coming. We know these are hostile street takeovers and we said welcome to Columbus,” Steel said.
Steel says they learned about what was coming right after the late September chaos in Cleveland.
Late on Oct. 5, Columbus police corralled cars circling a large parking lot near the airport.
“They were completely surrounded,” Steel said.
If drivers tried to run, they didn’t get far. Some ended up in ditches along the roadway.
“We had officers 50 feet away, we had officers miles away, a helicopter keeping them in sight and we systematically picked them off wherever they went,” Steel said.
Columbus has one tool Cleveland doesn’t. Stop sticks.
Steel explained how they work.
“When it hits your tires it’ll slowly let the air come out so you have a controlled release,” Steel said.
Columbus hit participants in the wallet. They spiked up to 50 cars that night and impounded nearly 70.
There were also 186 arrests, including 46 teenagers.
“We offer no plea, we offer no sort of downgrading of charges. The defendant has to pay 100% of the court costs, 100% of the impound fees and 100% of the fines,” Klein said.
State lawmakers are trying to get tough.
Ohio’s new law took effect today, increasing the penalties for stunt driving. Klein says Columbus mirrored what the state did with its new ordinance but took it a step further.
People with tricked-out rides could permanently lose custom parts.
"Parts that are added to their cars to make them go faster, to make them go louder. Anything that would support street racing, the stunt driving,” Klein said.
News 5 Investigators showed Steel the takeover in Cleveland that paralyzed the city.
“Is that a city you want to live in, is that a country you want to live in, and why is that OK? Why do those individuals feel they can do that,” Steel said.
During the Sept. 28 and 29 takeovers, sixteen locations were hit in more than five hours.
New task force investigating takeovers.
It culminated with a masked mob shutting down Interstate 90 and attacking a party bus.
Earlier that night, an off-duty Parma police officer was jumped by five guys in the street, according to a police report.
Off-duty Parma officer assaulted during September takeover.
"F***, I should have fought them," the officer said.
News 5 Investigators obtained new body camera video from the beating incident.
The Parma officer is heard venting to Cleveland police.
"God dammit, I can't even defend myself; I can't pull a gun because I'll get in f****** trouble," the officer said.
The whole time, you can hear screeching tires from the takeover still happening at West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue.
"I just need to let it out,” the officer said.
A Cleveland officer responded, "Everything you're saying I can guarantee we feel."
“If you’re handcuffed, which appears to be the situation in Cleveland, they're under a consent decree with very strict policies. If you handcuff your police there’s only so much you can do,” Steel said.
News 5 Investigators asked Steel how Columbus police were able to make the 186 arrests.
“I can tell you that on that day the police were allowed to do their job,” Steel said.
More than two weeks after Cleveland’s takeovers, Police Chief Annie Todd held a news conference to announce the first arrest.
Twenty-five-year-old Jordan McDonald of South Euclid was taken into custody on Oct. 15. Police also impounded a car.
McDonald's was indicted Wednesday, charging him with participation in seven different street takeovers on Sept. 28 and 29.
News 5 Investigators asked Todd if the city had not been under federal monitoring if the weekend response would have been different.
"So if you look at the majority of our officers, they all started under the consent decree. So, to be handcuffed by it, I wouldn't say that's an accurate depiction because they're just trained on a policy. Our policies come from the consent decree but our policies are very clear,” Todd said.
News 5 Investigators showed Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Andy Gasiewski what Columbus accomplished in one night.
“That’s very good, and you said we’ve had one arrest? One. Hmm OK.. Hmm,” Gasiewski said.
Gasiewski says they don’t have the manpower, and even then, there is a culture in that officers fear discipline for getting outside the parameters of the policy.
“The policy isn’t very clear on a lot of issues and the policy is sometimes questioned in hearings how it’s written so the men and women are subject to discipline even if they follow everything by the book. So is there a fear, yes,” Gasiewski said.
Days before the Cleveland takeover, we sat down with Todd to ask about her strategy.
“There’s no best way, there's no best practice. We are looking at how other cities combat the same issue," Todd said.
After the takeovers, Todd says they didn’t have the intel in time to prepare properly.
We asked Todd if it was time to change her strategy.
“We’re looking to them at what worked and what didn’t work, as this still has to stand up in court,” Todd said.
Earlier this week, Cleveland police arrested a second person, 23-year-old Ashlyn Rogers from Port Clinton. Police say she’s believed to be an active promoter and participant in the takeovers on Sept. 28 and 29.
Her case has been bound over to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court.
A third person, a 20-year-old man, was arrested Thursday. Police say he is believed to be an active promoter, organizer, and participant in the Sep. 28 and 29 takeovers.
RELATED: Cleveland police make new arrest in street takeovers
Cleveland created a takeover task force. Todd says takeover details have been out every weekend for smaller groups that still gather. She says supervisors join front-line officers to ensure they understand what they can and can’t do.
Cleveland City Council proposed legislation on Oct.7 that mirrors the state law on stunt driving. It’s also similar to what Columbus did in the potential for parts to be permanently seized.
