13 Cleveland street gang members charged with racketeering

CLEVELAND (AP) — Authorities say they’ve charged 12 adults and one juvenile member of a violent street gang that terrorized a Cleveland neighborhood with robberies and drive-by shootings.

Eleven of the adults and the juvenile linked to the Cutthroats have been arrested. Charges in the indictment include racketeering and participating in a criminal gang.

The arrests last week came after a six-month investigation by police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s department. Other members of the gang already were in custody facing charges that include aggravated murder and bank robbery.

A Cleveland police commander says the Cutthroats are a subset of the notorious Heartless Felons, the largest gang in Ohio’s prison system and a presence on the streets of some northeast Ohio cities.