Cleveland D. Johnson, 22, of Lauderdale Lakes , Florida, the driver who died after the high speed crash/pursuit in Alexander Monday afternoon, was one of four people arrested by the Town of Greenburgh, NY Police Department in January of 2018.
The Greenburgh Street Crime Unit arrested four members of the Felony Lane Gang on January 24, 2018 as they were found to be in possession of 25 stolen driver’s licenses from multiple states throughout the country, stolen personal checks and 54 stolen debit/credit cards.
Cleveland D. Johnson was charged with criminal possession of stolen property an scheme to defraud.
The Felony Lane Gang is a group of thieves based in Fort Lauderdale that travel across the country stealing identities and checkbooks from cars, smash and grabs. The gang has been around since about 2010.
On Monday afternoon about 4:00p.m., Johnson was operating a 2019 Chrysler 300 with a Pennsylvania license plate on Rt. 19 in Warsaw when police attempted to initiate a traffic stop for speeding. As the officer approached the Chrysler, it fled the scene and a pursuit ensued, but was terminated shortly after when Warsaw Police lost sight of the vehicle. The vehicle was then spotted traveling north on Rt. 98 through the Village of Attica, Attica Police then attempted to stop the vehicle, however it failed to pull over and fled once more, leading Attica Police on a pursuit headed north on Rt. 98 into Genesee County. Due to the high rate of speed, Attica Police terminated the pursuit and as the officer continued north on Rt. 98 he came upon the white 2019 Chrysler 300 into a tree in the Village of Alexander.
Two passengers in the vehicle with Johnson, Clyde A Frazier, 24, of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Desarae N. Steriotis, 33, of Philadelphia, were both seriously injured in the accident and had to be cut out of the vehicle.
They were transported to area hospitals via Mercy Flight.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Department is aware of Johnson’s arrest in 2018 in Greenburgh, NY and are currently looking into why Johnson and the passengers in the vehicle were running from police and refused to pull over.
This morning, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has again advised residents that they have received several complaints over the past week involving the thefts of motor vehicles and theft of articles from vehicles parked in private driveways and lots. They say the larcenies have occurred mainly during the overnight hours. The Sheriff’s Department is again reminding people to keep their vehicles locked, remove keys from vehicles and to report any suspicious activity that they observe to 9-1-1.