Worker at sewer plant in Cuyahoga Heights arrested for suspicious call

CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS, Ohio - A construction worker at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Southerly plant was arrested after authorities say he made a suspicious call.

At about 6:48 a.m. Monday, a security officer at the plant in Cuyahoga Heights received a call saying “Something would happen at the Southerly plant and your other plant,” the sewer district said.

“Our first concern was to assure that employees, contractors, vendors and visitors were safe,” said Julius Ciaccia, Sewer District Executive Director, in a news release on Tuesday. “We were able to determine early on in the investigation that safety was not jeopardized.”

Cleveland police K-9 units searched the facility for explosives and did not find any, the sewer district said.

Authorities were able to locate the suspect by tracing the call to a pre-paid phone. According to NEORSD, the call was made at East 49th and Pershing Avenue and that same phone was at the Southerly plant the day of the incident.

The suspect is an employee of a construction company doing electric work on the Renewable Energy Facility.

While NEORSD named the man who was arrested, it is NewsChannel5 policy not to release a suspect’s name until charges have been filed. The sewer district said charges are pending.