After a brief police pursuit ended in a bad crash in Cleveland back in March, East Cleveland Police Commander Larry McDonald, the only officer involved in the chase, left the scene without stopping to check on the driver.
In fact, McDonald’s body camera footage from the incident shows he laughed after the crash and said, “I knew he was going to do that,” before cranking up his stereo and driving his patrol car to nearby bar.
The 46-year-old veteran officer’s body camera was still recording as he walked into the back door of the Sportsman Ultra Lounge, located at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Ivanhoe Road, and started talking to some women who later joined him outside in his cruiser About 20 minutes after the pursuit, McDonald, known throughout the community by the nickname ‘Pac-Man,’ was in the middle of a sexually explicit conversation with the women when another officer, Sgt. Anthony Holmes, started questioning him about the incident over the phone:Holmes: “Uh, they crashed at St. Clair.”Holmes: “Ah, ok. A passerby said that the car almost ran them off the road, watched them crash, and then turned around. Cleveland called over here.”According to records from the Cleveland Division of Police, a woman called to report a white Jeep Cherokee was being chased down Ivanhoe Road by an East Cleveland police officer when the driver crashed into an RTA bus shelter at the intersection known as ‘Five Points,’ where Ivanhoe meets East 152nd Street and St. Clair Avenue. The 58-year-old woman told Cleveland Police she was almost run off the road during the pursuit, and that the East Cleveland officer appeared stop and then leave right after the crash. Cleveland Police dispatchers contacted the East Cleveland Police Department, who denied having any involvement. “East Cleveland is saying that it wasn’t them, all of their officers are on base,” a female dispatcher relayed to Cleveland officers in an audio recording obtained by 19 Investigates. Cleveland officers responded to the scene and discovered the RTA bus shelter was destroyed, along with a fire hydrant and a crosswalk sign.Court records show the man pleaded guilty to attempted murder in 2009. When Cleveland Police ran his name through a law enforcement database at the crash scene, they discovered he a had a possible active homicide warrant with East Cleveland Police. At the exact same time Cleveland Police were working to verify the homicide warrant, video shows Commander McDonald was still sitting in his patrol car outside of the bar.Holmes: “Yeah?”Holmes: “They said that an East Cleveland cop chased him down the street, almost ran them off the road, and watched the car crash and then turned around.”Holmes: “Ivanhoe and St. Clair. It was a passerby that said all that. But it was a car crashed into a bus stop at Ivanhoe and St. Clair.” McDonald: “No, I wouldn’t have seen that. I stopped... let me get this street because I’m right here still, let me get this street where I turned around at.” Holmes: “You’re probably about Stevenson or whatever. You’re good, all of our units is in the station.” McDonald: “Woooo, these m***********s! So he said, he told the police that he was getting chased by the East Cleveland Police?”McDonald: “I turned around, let me get this exact street... right about... Holiday. Then I came down and turned around. I didn’t do the ‘Wiggins.’” Holmes: “No, we covered. I’m not worried about it. That passerby is gone, they didn’t get any information. They just said that to Cleveland. So we’re good.”Holmes: “Don’t go down there. You ain’t had nothing to do with it.”On Tuesday, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted them on one count each of tampering with evidence, telecommunications fraud, obstructing official business, and dereliction of duty.McDonald was also indicted on one county of failure to stop after an accident, while Holmes faces an an additional charge for obstructing justice. They are scheduled to be arraigned on June 8. 19 Investigates found McDonald is not the first East Cleveland police officer to be accused of failing to stop after witnessing an accident. Our investigative team uncovered a similar incident that occurred last year involving Officer Ravon Wiggins. Just after midnight on Oct. 10, 2022, Wiggins began pursuing a White Kia SUV after he said he saw the vehicle run a red light, and then got an alert that the Kia was reported stolen. The chased continued across city limits into Cleveland, where speeds reached over 70 mph, according to police records. One officer decided to terminate the pursuit around Superior Ave. and Ansel Rd. “due to unsafe speeds and traffic conditions,” but Wiggins continued to follow the speeding Kia down Superior until the driver crashed near East 79th Street. “Looking down the street, I can see some lights flashing, “ Wiggins said over his police radio. “I believe that vehicle may have crashed. I’m going to go check.” Another voice came over the radio and said, “If you’re not in pursuit of that vehicle, terminate and return back to the city.” Surveillance video obtained by 19 Investigates show Wiggins turned his emergency lights off right after the person driving the Kia lost control, crossed the double yellow lines, and crashed into a light pole.Wiggins can been seen on video approaching the intersection of East 79th Street and Superior Avenue, but instead of stopping to help, the officer made a U-turn and drove away. According to Chief Brian Gerhard, the 26-year-old officer was just doing what his then-patrol commander, Larry McDonald, had told him to do. In October, East Cleveland Police Commander Dominique King told 19 Investigates the department was conducting an internal review of Wiggins’ actions, including his failure to activate his body worn camera during the pursuit. “Patrolman Wiggins followed directive when he turned around but did not take the initiative to follow policy & procedure,” an internal affairs panel noted during a hearing on Nov. 9, 2022. The allegations of misconduct were not sustained, however, and the officer was not disciplined for leaving the crash scene without stopping.Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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