Surf Shop Burglar Tied To Earlier Break-In

OCEAN CITY – A Baltimore man apparently went back to the same well once too often last weekend after getting arrested for trying to break into a mid-town surf shop which connected him to the burglary of a similar business in town.

Last Saturday, Ocean City police responded to a reported burglary in progress at the Cloud Break II skate shop on 58th Street. Upon arrival, OCPD officers were advised by a witness the suspect had just fled the area and was heading in the direction of the nearby 7-Eleven store just north of the reported break-in. Police saturated the immediate area and found a male suspect matching the description in the convenience store. The officers were soon able to identify the suspect as Martinique Steffan Chase, 19, of Baltimore. The suspect was found with a screwdriver and a folding knife on his person.

After a brief investigation, detectives began to connect Chase to a burglary reported at Chauncey’s Surf Shop on 54th Street a week earlier. On Sunday, Oct. 5, OCPD officers responded to an alarm activation at Chauncey’s Surf Shop. The officers arrived on the scene and immediately noticed the front plate glass window of the store had been smashed. A brief investigation revealed a suspect had reached through the broken window and stolen several items including skateboard decks, wheels and trucks.

During the investigation of the Chauncey’s break-in, police recovered surveillance video that provided a working description of the suspect, who was seen in the store on two separate occasions the day before. After the attempted break-in at Cloud Break II last Saturday, investigators learned Chase might have been responsible for the burglary at Chauncey’s the week before. Using the surveillance tapes from the Chauncey’s burglary, investigators noticed Chase had similar characteristics to the suspect in the previous surf shop burglary.

Detectives then prepared a photo line-up including Chase and presented it to witnesses from the burglary at Chauncey’s a week earlier. Two surf shop employees were able to positively identify Chase as the same suspect who had been in the store on two separate occasions on the day before the break-in at Chauncey’s on Oct. 5.

Chase was arrested and charged two counts each of felony and misdemeanor burglary, theft and other charges. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.