A gathering meant to honor a recently deceased Cleveland rapper and convicted drug trafficker turned into a multi-agency police operation at Goodfellas BBQ in Richmond Heights late on August 29, after officers learned some attendees could be armed felons and the same crowd had been present two nights earlier when a shooting wounded two people at a Euclid bar. It took attendees nearly two hours to clear out once police moved in, and officers said they had to break up multiple arguments in the process before the scene was finally cleared.
The gathering was organized to remember Maceo Moore, known as “Chase,” a former Cleveland rapper who died in a motorcycle crash on Eddy Road, as Hoodline reported. Moore had a lengthy criminal record: the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced in August 2014 that he was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison after a joint FBI and police investigation uncovered a 60-person heroin distribution conspiracy across Greater Cleveland. That history is a key reason the Cleveland Police Gang Unit was tracking the memorial gatherings held in his honor, according to Cleveland.com.
A Shooting Two Nights Before Raised the Stakes
The same group of people had gathered on August 28 at a bar in Euclid, and that night ended in gunfire. Per the Cleveland, Ohio Remembrance Page, officers responded early that morning to a reported shooting at Eclipse Bar and Grill at 26100 Euclid Avenue, where at least two people were shot before a suspect fled the scene in a silver BMW. That violence is what pushed the Cleveland Police Gang Unit to alert suburban departments once it became clear the same crowd planned to regroup the following night at Goodfellas BBQ in Richmond Heights.
The gang unit advised officers that a large gathering would be held at Goodfellas BBQ on August 29 to honor the recently deceased gang member, and warned that multiple attendees could have felony convictions and that armed individuals could be present. Goodfellas BBQ, which also operates as Goodfellas Ultra Lounge, sits at 5156 Wilson Mills Road in Richmond Heights and is owned and operated by Darryl Rugley and his team, known for barbecue, soul food, and seafood, according to Cleveland Magazine. The business owner reportedly confirmed that a large gathering was expected that night, and the business manager coordinated with police efforts to shut it down.
Mutual Aid Brought in Three Outside Agencies
Because of the scale and risk, Richmond Heights leaned on Ohio's mutual aid framework rather than handling the crowd alone. Ohio Revised Code Section 737.04 lets municipalities enter police mutual aid contracts, giving officers from neighboring cities and county sheriffs full police authority when rendering emergency aid outside their home jurisdictions. That statute is what allowed Lyndhurst police, Highland Heights police, and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office to join Richmond Heights officers in dispersing the crowd, per Cleveland.com's reporting.
Once officers moved in, it still took nearly two hours for attendees to fully leave, and police had to intervene in multiple arguments before the scene was clear. Amid the chaos, a car crashed into another vehicle in the Goodfellas BBQ parking lot; the driver, a 35-year-old man from Mayfield Heights, was found intoxicated and arrested for OVI.
Part of a Wider Regional Pattern
This was not Richmond Heights' first time calling in outside help to break up a large unpermitted crowd this year. Cleveland.com reported that police there previously shut down an unpermitted July 4 weekend gathering of roughly 300 people at Five Points Grille, a episode Hoodline covered in its earlier report on the packed grill. In April 2025, Cleveland passed a law concerning nuisance declarations and fines.
The Goodfellas BBQ shutdown also fits a broader trend of Cuyahoga County suburbs bracing for large, potentially volatile gatherings. Just two days earlier, Hoodline reported that neighboring East Cleveland imposed early 8 p.m. commercial curfews along Euclid Avenue and deployed extra sheriff's deputies and state troopers ahead of a major community reunion, a precaution rooted in deadly shootings from two years prior. Together, the incidents suggest area police departments are increasingly relying on mutual aid compacts and nuisance ordinances to get ahead of crowds before violence like the August 28 Euclid shooting can repeat itself.
