ORANGE, Ohio (WJW) – Video shows the Cleveland safety director getting pulled over by Orange Village police while driving a city vehicle in the middle of the night.

That led the I-Team to investigate.

We asked why a city official would be out so late in a city vehicle, and we caught up with the safety director to ask him directly.

Dash camera video shows police pulling over a driver for speeding and running a stop sign.

The man behind the wheel turned out to be Cleveland Safety Director Karrie Howard.

Orange Village police made the traffic stop after midnight Wednesday morning.

“This your car here?” an officer asked.

“No, it’s my work car. I’m the safety director for Cleveland. I’m coming back from inside the city.” Howard answered.

“OK because I was wondering. I was trying to run the plate. Wouldn’t come back or nothing like that,” the officer responded.

“All right, well, I’ve got to give you a ticket for the stop sign,” the officer later said. “It was a complete roll. You didn’t even attempt to stop. “

The I-Team took a look beyond the ticket for running a stop sign. We wondered about a top city official out at that hour in a city vehicle. We contacted city hall, giving Howard a chance to explain.

We asked what specifically he could tell us about what he’d been doing at that hour in a city car.

“Driving around the city, like I do, at times, he said. “I was on the side streets in the Kinsman area.”

He told us that he’d been checking city streets where residents had complained about problems, including nuisance issues.

“To get a better understanding, I sometimes go out to try to see for myself,” he added.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the traffic stop, an officer also said, “I’ve got to warn you on the speed. I’m not going to write you for the speed, but you were well over 50 (in a) 35.”

Howard oversees all city of Cleveland safety forces. So, we also asked about the traffic stop and what Howard had to say about his driving.

“I don’t know how fast I was going,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention to my speed. I slowed, made the turn safely and that’s when they pulled me over.”

Hours after getting the ticket, the safety director wasn’t sure if he’d just pay the ticket or go to court.
“I’m a citizen like anybody else. Pull me over. Give me a citation. Let me exercise my constitutional right, but I respect law enforcement and the work that they do.”

We also put in a request with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles for the safety director’s driving record. He tells us the last time he got a ticket was 2021.