CLEVELAND — A Cleveland City Council member raised concerns Tuesday over a recent carjacking at Ginn Academy, calling on police to get juvenile “terrorists” off the streets.
OSU Associate Athletic Director for Communications Jerry Emig confirmed Tuesday that Keenan Bailey, tight ends coach at The Ohio State University, had been involved in a carjacking in Cleveland. He said Bailey was not harmed and is on the road recruiting as of Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got these violent kids,” councilmember Mike Polensek. “I refer to them as urban terrorists because that’s what our residents call them. They’re terrorists. They’re terrorizing our neighborhoods.”
Polensek said a carjacking had taken place at Ginn Academy, which is located in the city’s Fifth District. Polensek confirmed that the suspects taken into custody were young people, saying they were school aged, and raised the question of whether there should be a daytime curfew.
“I want these kids that committed these crimes held accountable,” Polensek said, “I want them held accountable. I want them prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law. You want to pick up a gun, you want to go out and terrorize the community, there has to be consequences. That’s how it used to be in the day, and we got to get back to holding people accountable. Because if not, then no one is safe. Nobody is safe.”
Polensek is the chairman of the Safety Committee for city council and is on the board at Ginn Academy. He said he has requested a police report but has yet to see it. He said when he does get one, he knows it will be redacted and, therefore, meaningless.
He is also calling for Ohio State Highway Patrol and Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies to patrol the streets until more police officers are hired, which he said “is not going to happen for a while, as we all know.”
“I’ve got to protect those kids at Ginn Academy or at every school in my community, and I’m not going to let kids come on, espeically not at schools that are succeeding,” he said. “Ginn Academy is a success, and just think they can come on that campus and commit a violent crime? Unacceptable to me, my community and the Greater Cleveland community.”
