OCEAN CITY – The second of two Pennsylvania men wanted in connection with a double-stabbing incident in Ocean City early last Saturday morning was nabbed this week after OCPD detectives tracked the suspect to his hometown of Lancaster, Pa.
One of the suspects in the double stabbing, Edward Cockrell, 18, of Lancaster, was taken into custody a short time after the incident early last Saturday morning, but the second suspect, Omil Milfort, 18, also of Lancaster, remained at large. OCPD detectives followed up on numerous leads that Milfort had returned to the Lancaster area following the stabbing incident and extensive media coverage in the area heightened awareness and generated numerous tips about Milfort’s whereabouts.
OCPD Detectives Brett Case and Todd Spiegle spent much of Tuesday in the Lancaster area searching for Milfort in cooperation with officers from Manheim Township and Lancaster City. After speaking with several people in Lancaster, the OCPD detectives believed Milfort was staying with a female friend. The officers conducted a surveillance of the home on East Walnut Street in Lancaster.
Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the officers knocked on the door of the residence. Milfort attempted to escape through a back door but was immediately taken into custody by waiting officers. He was arrested by the Lancaster Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division along with the department’s street enforcement division and a K-9 unit.
Around 3:30 a.m. last Saturday, two men identified as Justin Pfieler, 21, of Baltimore, and David Grimes, 23, of Millersville, were reportedly walking in the street and impeding traffic in the area of 16th Street and Baltimore Ave. when they became involved in an argument with two men in a vehicle. Pfieler reportedly confronted the driver, identified as Cockrell, and pulled him out of the car.
The two men began fighting before Grimes and the passenger of the vehicle, identified as Milfort, joined the fight. According to police reports, Milfort then took out a knife and stabbed Grimes twice in the chest. He then swung the knife at Pfieler, striking him twice in the leg and once in the back. Milfort and Cockrell then fled the scene.
About a half an hour later, Ocean City police located the suspect’s vehicle, a 1994 Oldsmobile sedan registered to Cockrell’s mother, about a mile away from the crime scene at the intersection of Robin Drive and Judlee Ave. OCPD officers located Cockrell on the street nearby and he was taken into custody. Milfort, however, was not apprehended and remained at large until he was apprehended in Lancaster on Tuesday.
Both victims were transported by Ocean City EMS to Atlantic General Hospital where Pfieler was treated for his injuries and released. Grimes was flown to PRMC in Salisbury where he is listed in stable condition.
Cockrell has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of dangerous weapon with intent to injure. He appeared in District Court on Monday morning for a bond review and was ordered held on a $50,000 bond.
Warrants for Milfort were obtained prior to his capture in Pennsylvania charging him with first- and second-degree assault and carrying a deadly weapon with intent to injure. Milfort is currently in custody in Lancaster awaiting extradition to Maryland to face the charges against him here.