Bodycam video shows Cleveland Heights officer punched during 50+ student fight

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - The Cleveland Heights Police Department released video Thursday of a fight that broke out in the parking lot of Cleveland Heights High School Tuesday night.

Cleveland Heights chief of police Chris Britton can’t thank of any incident like this in his nearly 30 years in the city: “Not to the scale I recall, the amount of people and the resources that we had to call in for help.”

The fight broke out around 9:50 p.m. after the Cleveland Heights vs. Garfield Heights basketball game and included “at least 50 students,” according to police.

Police said paramedics transported one 19-year-old boy to the hospital for injuries to the knees and face and treated another for a facial injury.

Shaker Heights, University Heights and South Euclid officers responded to requests for backup as fights continued to break out through the crowd described as “students” by police.

Two officers reported being hit in the face while breaking up the fight but did not report serious injury.

Chief Britton did not specify any particular changes to school and extra-curricular safety at this time, but is committed to improvements to safety.

“I’ve been in communication with the school and we have an upcoming meeting to discuss strategies,” chief Britton explained, “how we can move forward to ensure safety for everyone.”

Officers attempted to chase the suspect but could not find him. No arrests have been made, and the incident is currently under investigation.

“It could take weeks or months,” Chief Britton said. “When you have that many people, many video sources, it takes time to carefully look through everything.”

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