Tremont

A woman was robbed at gunpoint on Starkweather Avenue in Cleveland Sunday night, the latest in a string of Tremont stick-ups. Police chased two suspects driving a black Chevy S-10 past MetroHealth Medical Center, but a sergeant called off the pursuit after the truck nearly crashed into a police cruiser.

(Cory Shaffer, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Another armed robbery in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood Sunday night triggered a short, high-speed police chase that a sergeant called off with no arrests.

The incident was the closest Cleveland police have come to making an arrest in a string of spring stick-ups in Tremont that persist even after police said they were giving the neighborhood special attention.

Two teenagers robbed a woman at gunpoint on Starkweather Avenue just east of Lincoln Park about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a police incident report. Debbie Marshall said she heard the woman scream as she was walking into her apartment.

She turned around and saw one of the teenagers grab the woman's cellphone out of her hand. The teen with the gun shoved the woman to the ground and grabbed her purse. Both ran East on Starkweather toward West 7th Street.

Marshall and her neighbors flagged down a man on a motorcycle and told him what happened. The man then drove after the teenagers and saw them get into a black Chevrolet S-10, Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association said. The man gave police the license plate number.

Officers saw the truck turn onto Clark Avenue from West 14th Street minutes later. Police tried to stop car as it neared West 25th Street, but the driver fled, according to the report.

Police chased the car south on West 25th Street past MetroHealth Medical Center. The truck nearly crashed into another police car, prompting a sergeant to order the officers to stop chasing the suspects, who got onto Interstate 71 and drove away.

The license plate comes back to a "notorious family" in the city's Old Brooklyn neighborhood, Loomis said. He did not elaborate.

Sunday's was the latest armed robbery in the neighborhood. Two men were robbed at gunpoint on West 11th Street near Literary Avenue April 18. Another man was robbed at West 7th Street and Jefferson Avenue April 29, and a man was robbed in the 2800 block of West 11th Street April 30.

Marshall, who has lived in the same apartment for five years, said she always felt safe, even after her car was broken into.

"Somebody with a gun putting it in someone else's face is an entirely new level," she said. "It's definitely an issue that needs to be addressed or people in general are moving out of Tremont and property values are going to drop."

Sunday's chase gave police a valuable lead on the suspects, but Loomis questioned the sergeant's decision to end the chase. He said letting the suspects go would only embolden them in the future.

"They should have let us do our jobs," Loomis said. "These two punks will rob again, and what's even worse they will tell their punk friends how easy it is to do in Cleveland."

Reached for comment Monday morning, department spokeswoman detective Jennifer Ciaccia referred to the department's pursuit policy, which says officers are to immediately end a chase "if the level of danger to life outweighs the need for immediate apprehension" of the suspect. That could mean if the driver is blowing through stop signs or traffic lights, risking an accident.

The policy, last updated in March 2014, has been significantly changed in the wake of the November 2012 police chase that ended with police firing 137 gunshots, killing Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, who were unarmed. Nearly 100 officers participated in the chase, leading Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to say the Cleveland police department suffered from "systemic failure."

Officer Michael Brelo is currently on trial for his role in the shooting. Closing arguments in that case are expected to begin Tuesday.