CLEVELAND — The FOX 8 I-Team has obtained exclusive video showing criminals in one neighborhood have become bold day and night even with security cameras rolling.
In recent days, a group of young guys calmly pulled up in a car. Then they roamed around the parking lot for a repair shop breaking windows and getting into cars. A couple of days later, at the same repair shop, a man walked in for a quote in the middle of the day. But employees then found him stealing batteries from cars there even with people around and an alarm going off.
That happened at North Coast Rent-A-Wreck at West 103rd and Madison in Cleveland. And just weeks ago, on the same block, a home security camera captured a drive-by shooting. That happened on a Saturday afternoon with kids out playing. Incredibly, no one got hurt.
The folks at the repair shop are fed-up. They try to make an honest living there. They have 20 security cameras. And yet, all this.
Owner Tim Bozak said, “I’m sure they probably know that cameras, or no cameras, Cleveland’s not gonna do nothing.”
Adding to the frustration, after one incident here police didn’t even make a report. They also didn’t make one down the block after the drive by shooting. Police gave us a number of reasons why no report was made in a couple of those cases. But try explaining that to the folks caught in the middle.
Bozak added, “The report more or less, you know, maybe they can do something with it and say this area’s getting hit quite a bit.”
No question, police citywide often get overwhelmed. They often run from call to call for much more serious crimes. The folks on this block get that. But the repair shop’s been in business since 1971, and there it seems, criminals have never been as bold as they are now.
