Family furious about body found in impound lot

CLEVELAND -- Emil Azzam's brothers, Mounir and Tanos, sister-in-law Victoria Green and friend Yasser Jawhari all came downtown Tuesday demanding answers. They want to know why Cleveland police, fire and EMS units never bothered to check Emil's car after a series of accidents Friday night at Ohio Route 176 and Spring Road.

Azzam's body wasn't discovered in the front seat of his damaged car until Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Impound Lot #7.

"His legs were underneath the steering wheel and he was laying back and his cigarette was still in his hand like this," said Victoria Green, as she demonstrated the death pose of her brother-in-law.

"When we went to identify his body you could see him in plain sight. It was horrible. How could they all miss it?"

"My brother, to my belief, was alive and he didn't get medical attention right away," said Emil's older brother Mounir. "That is murder when you leave somebody to die in a car when Cleveland police and EMS were 100 yards away."

The Cuyahoga County Coroner's report said "the decedent did not survive said accident on impact time of the incident."

"I don't believe them," said Mounir Azzam. "My brother was alive. If he got medical help, my brother would be alive right now."

Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath has "assigned the Accident Investigation Unit and the integrity control section to investigate the circumstances involving this incident."

Safety Director Martin Flask said, "The officer who handled the accident failed to check the car."

According to police department procedure, all officers are required to inspect the inside of every towed vehicle and complete an inventory log.

Victoria Green brushed off her tears and said, "They take better care of a dog lying in the road. Is it a racial thing? Is it because this family is Arabic?"

The family was shocked when after they were called to identify the body at the impound lot, they watched another tow truck pull up and haul the body of Azzam to the Coroner's office still in the front seat of his crumpled Toyota.

Tanos choked back tears as he said, "I told them that I will hold my brother. I'll take him myself and put him on my shoulder and take him to a hospital and do the proper thing. I didn't want them to tow him like this again."

John Lemieux, a lawyer representing Azzam's family, said the Cleveland Police Department has refused to return the personal items like passports, wallets and papers that are still in the victim's car.