Tuesday, August 21 – Brothers Charged In Resort Stabbing

OCEAN CITY – Two brothers face attempted first-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing two men during an altercation in front of an Ocean City hotel early yesterday morning.

Around 2:15 a.m. on Monday, Ocean City Police were flagged down by security officers at the Princess Bayside Hotel in reference to two stabbing victims found lying on the pavement near the facility’s front door. One of the victims had a stab wound to the chest, while the other had stab wounds to his back torso.

Witnesses said the victims were part of a larger group of people approached by the two suspects and a woman near the hotel. According to police reports, one of the suspects asked the group for a cigarette and after one of the victim’s girlfriends offered up a cigarette, the two suspects, who are brothers, challenged the victims to a fistfight. After a brief altercation, it was apparent the two victims had been stabbed by the brothers.

Witnesses told police the suspects fled south on Coastal Highway after the stabbings took place. A short time later, Ocean City Police located brothers Christopher Hill, 29, of Jessup, Md., and Joseph Hill, 26, of Laurel, Md., at the 45th Street Village parking lot. It remains uncertain who committed the stabbings. A knife has not been recovered, however, a witness observed Joseph Hill folding a knife and putting it in his pocket.

Meanwhile, back at the Princess Bayside Hotel, the two victims, identified as Walter Ostrowski, 21, of Baltimore, and Steven Hutchins, 26, of Dundalk, were taken by Ocean City EMS to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. Ostrowski, who received stab wounds in his back, was treated and released, while Hutchins, who was stabbed in the chest, was listed in serious, but stable, condition as of yesterday.

The two suspects are charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and carrying a concealed deadly weapon. As of yesterday, they were being held at Ocean City Police headquarters awaiting an initial appearance in front of a District Court Commissioner.

The Dispatch will update this story and have all the week’s news on Friday morning in both its print and Internet editions.