CLEVELAND — Two Cleveland Browns players were robbed at gunpoint and another had his vehicle stolen over the weekend in Cleveland.
According to a police report, a player had reported parking his 2022 Ram TRK in the lot next to Filter Bar and Lounge located at 740 W. Superior Ave. at 2:15 a.m. on Monday. At 3:30 a.m., one of the victims went into the parking lot to go to the vehicle when six masked men are alleged to have jumped out of an unknown vehicle, robbing the victims at gunpoint.
"We deal with these high-end clients all the time, and nothing like that's happend," Filter owner Kyler Smith told 3News. "That parking lot is something that sometimes is so hard because it's out of our control, because its dealing with so much traction that's going on downtown."
One of the victims said that he was robbed of some jewelry he was wearing and that the suspects fled the scene in his truck. Another victim stated that he was inside the bar at the time of the robbery and didn't witness it.
WKYC has learned that the two victims were Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II and defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey.
Neither victim was harmed during the robbery. A GPS device was used to track the stolen vehicle, which was moving so fast that it couldn't be intercepted.
"We're still trying to gather information like everyone else," Smith added. "Its ongoing."
The robbery involving the two Browns players — whose names are redacted in the police report — came less than a day after Cleveland running back/wide receiver Demetric Felton reported having his 2023 Dodge Durango Hellcat stolen out of the parking garage of The May, located at 200 Euclid Avenue. According to a police report, Felton's vehicle was one of two stolen during the incident, which occurred at approximately 4:50 a.m. on Sunday.
The Browns are in Berea on Tuesday, taking part in the first of their three mandatory offseason minicamps. Head coach Kevin Stefanski addressed the robberies and expressed relief that the players involved were not physically hurt.
"I'm glad our guys are OK," Stefanski told reporters. "I want all of our community to be safe. The Cleveland Police have been outstanding. We want everybody to be safe and we want to get violent people off of our streets."
Stefanski added he had spoken with Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond about the situation. All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett also spoke with both Newsome and Winfrey and offered his support.
"I'm just glad to see they're all right," he said. "Just making sure they're in the right head space, they feel like they're surrounded by family and letting them know that anything that they need, we're the perfect resource for them and we have their back with whatever happens.
"We're just going to try to make sure that none of our guys are ever in that situation again and how we can help, we’re going to do that. But I'm just glad to see them safe and sound with us and still walking around. Still blessed to this day no matter what happens, still able to wake up in the morning and just glad to that we still have them here."
Newsome was on the field as the Browns opened minicamp, while there was no sign of Winfrey, a former Oklahoma defensive tackle arrested in April on a misdemeanor assault charge in Texas.
The incidents involving Newsome, Winfrey, and Felton are part of a disturbing trend in Cleveland, which has seen 209 car thefts in the last 10 days alone. 3News' Lynna Lai has more on those numbers: