Cleveland police are searching for Robert Morgan, a fugitive accused of beating a victim with a broomstick during a November 2025 attack the victim managed to escape. Morgan failed to appear in court afterward, and an active arrest warrant now has him listed on this week's "Cuyahoga's Most Wanted" roundup.
According to Cleveland 19 News, which produces the fugitive segment with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department and Crime Stoppers, the broomstick allegedly broke during the attack and Morgan kept beating the victim with the broken handle. The victim was taken to a hospital in Cleveland afterward, according to the report written by reporter Dan DeRoos.
Last Seen on Cleveland's East Side
Investigators say Morgan was last known to be staying in the 3400 block of East 105th Street, a corridor that runs through Cleveland's Glenville and Hough neighborhoods, according to City of Cleveland mapping data. Police describe Morgan as standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds.
Morgan's criminal history dates back to 1992, according to court records, and includes prior convictions tied to drug trafficking, felony assault and kidnapping. Those prior cases are separate from the November 2025 broomstick attack that led police to feature him now, as reported by Cleveland 19 News.
Reward Money and the Felony Charges Morgan Would Face
Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County is asking anyone with information on Morgan's whereabouts to call 216-252-7463, a line the organization says can remain completely anonymous. Callers could be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000, though Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County policy excludes law enforcement officers, perpetrators, victims and their immediate family members from collecting payouts. The nonprofit has operated since 1977, when it formed through a partnership between local police departments and the Cuyahoga County Chiefs of Police Association, according to City of Cleveland records.
If captured, Morgan would face felonious assault charges classified as a second-degree felony under Ohio law, carrying two to eight years in prison and fines up to $15,000 for knowingly causing serious physical harm or using a deadly weapon, according to Zukerman Law. Ohio's legal definition of a deadly weapon is broad enough to cover an everyday item like a broomstick, since courts weigh how an object is used rather than its original purpose, per Cross Law Office. His failure to appear also adds a separate fourth-degree felony charge that can carry up to 18 months in prison on its own, according to the Supreme Court of Ohio.
A Citywide Surge in Violence, With Questions Still Open
Morgan's case lands amid a broader surge in Cleveland violence: aggravated assaults rose more than 20% during the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period the year before, even as violent crime declined in many major U.S. cities, according to Axios. The city already ranked among the nation's most violent per capita; FBI figures from 2024 tallied 3,631 aggravated assaults among 5,663 total violent crimes, a rate more than four times the national average, per OpenCrime.
Cuyahoga County fugitive searches sometimes draw support from the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, a U.S. Marshals-led partnership that has made nearly 60,000 arrests since it was founded in 2003, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Whether that federal task force has been brought in specifically to help find Morgan has not been disclosed. It also remains unclear what condition the victim is in now, or exactly what led to the November 2025 confrontation in the first place.
Morgan is the latest name to surface on "Cuyahoga's Most Wanted," days after Hoodline reported on a fugitive wanted for domestic violence through the same Crime Stoppers-backed segment. Anyone with information on Morgan's location is urged to contact investigators through the tip line rather than approach him directly.
