OHIO — Cleveland police arrested 10 individuals, including a 12-year-old, in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins at a downtown hotel and surrounding areas over the weekend.
Officers responded to the Hilton Garden Inn on the 1100 block of Carnegie Avenue just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday after reports of at least 24 vehicles being broken into.
Further investigation revealed additional break-ins near East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue, extending as far east as East 120th Street and Mayfield Road in Little Italy.
Police determined that the suspects were using two stolen vehicles to commit the crimes and had also stolen a third vehicle on the 2100 block of Columbus Road in the Ohio City/Tremont area. During the search for the suspects, they abandoned one stolen vehicle and entered another.
“These reckless actions endangered not only the safety of the community and police officers, but also the suspects themselves,” Cleveland Police said in a statement.
The suspects were ultimately apprehended in a vacant apartment on the 2600 block of Loop Avenue. Authorities recovered three firearms hidden inside the apartment, which the suspects had used to conceal themselves and obstruct police efforts.
Those arrested include six juveniles from Cleveland, one juvenile from Richmond Heights, one juvenile from Maple Heights, and an adult from Akron:
- 12-year-old male, Cleveland
- 14-year-old female, Cleveland
- Two 14-year-old males, Cleveland
- 15-year-old male, Cleveland
- 15-year-old female, Richmond Heights
- 16-year-old male, Cleveland
- 16-year-old female, Cleveland
- 17-year-old male, Maple Heights
- 18-year-old female, Akron
Potential charges include breaking and entering, receiving stolen property, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, grand theft of motor vehicles, and having weapons while under disability. Six juveniles are being held in juvenile detention awaiting trial, while the adult is in the Cuyahoga County Jail.
Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy (Annie) Todd called the incident “deeply troubling and unacceptable” and praised officers for their swift response. “What the public can take confidence in is this: arrests have been made, and those responsible will face the full weight of the justice system,” Todd said.
The arrests follow multiple weekends of car break-ins in the Ohio City and Tremont neighborhoods, highlighting ongoing concerns about vehicle thefts in Cleveland.
