Cleveland police investigate fake TV news crew assaulting residents with stun gun

CLEVELAND - Cleveland police are investigating reports of a fake television news crew which reportedly assaulted residents with a stun gun.

Officers were called out to the 8800 block of Detroit Ave. around 2 p.m. after a victim reported that six men with a digital camera approached him claiming to be with a local television station and wanted to interview him.

The 34-year-old man kept walking and that's when he said the "news crew" jumped him and zapped him on the neck with a stun gun.

The suspects then fled the scene.

The victim told police he is a resident of a group home and a similar incident was reported earlier in the week in the same area.

Around 4:13 p.m., the fake news crew struck again on the city's west side, authorities said.

According to a Cleveland police report, officers got a phone call from the owner of Dairy Mart on Detroit Avenue and W. 89th Street for a group of men using a stun gun on people and videotaping the incidents.

Officers arrived and saw three men crossing Detroit Avenue at W. 80th Street. Two of the men matched the suspect descriptions. The trio were walking towards a bus stop where officers approached and detained them.

The men told officers during interviews that one person would stun their victim while another videotaped it "for fun."

The 25-year-old suspect accused of using the stun gun and the 19-year-old accused of filming the incidents were booked at Cleveland's Central Prison Unit. The third person, a juvenile, was taken to the Jane Edna Recreation Center.

Officers took the camera and stun gun as evidence. While reviewing the video recordings, it was determined that there were additional suspects involved in stun gun incidents.

Cleveland police continue to investigate the incidents. Anyone with information can contact the department anonymously by calling (216) 252-7463.