New allegations emerge against East Cleveland officers accused of theft

[ad_1]

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio Investigators said Tuesday more people came forward accusing two East Cleveland police officers of robbing them during traffic stops.

Officer Alfonzo Cole and Officer Willie Warner-Sims were arrested on Friday after investigators said a man filed a complaint alleging the couple arrested him for a tinted glass violation, then stole 5 $ 000 he had withdrawn to pay for a relative’s funeral.

“The plaintiff actually had documents to support the fact that he had just stepped down,” East Cleveland Police Chief Scott Gardner said. “He had documents on where he was going, what he was trying to do with the money.”

Gardner said the case was turned over to Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s detectives.

Cole, who has been with the East Cleveland Police Department since February 2018, and Warner-Sims, who has been with the department since February 2020, have been arrested and charged with theft.

Since then, investigators have said another man showed up, saying police stole money from him during a traffic stop last week.

The couple are also accused of stealing drugs and at least one gun during traffic stops.

Gardner said the allegations blinded him.

“There was basically no reason to look at the officers or think they were doing anything of this nature because there was no complaint,” Gardner said.

Gardner said he doesn’t think the cases represent a systemic problem within the police department and hopes the early arrests send a message.

“I don’t know of any cop who wants to work with a dirty cop,” Gardner said. “We don’t want it, and we are moving quickly and we have moved quickly in this situation.”

The chief said that in many cases it appeared that officers had not activated their body cameras.

Gardner said on Tuesday he believed it was intentional.

He is now asking the city to upgrade the body camera system to models that activate automatically to improve transparency.

Both officers have been placed on unpaid leave and are free with obligations of $ 5,000.

[ad_2]