Stolen Wedding Ring Recovered

Stolen Wedding Ring Recovered
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Stolen Wedding Ring Recovered

OCEAN PINES – A Millsboro man is in custody this week after Ocean Pines Police connected him with the theft of a wedding ring from a residence in the community in August.

Ocean Pines Police this week arrested Marvin Lee Simpson, 53, after connecting him to the alleged theft of a $12,500 wedding ring from a home in the community in August. Simpson was employed in a home improvement capacity at the residence in August when the ring was stolen, and Pines Police were able to connect him to the alleged theft. The ring has been recovered.

Simpson has been charged with felony theft. He was taken into custody and appeared before a District Court Commissioner, who ordered him held in the Worcester County detention facility on a $15,000 bond.

More Pines Theft

OCEAN PINES – Ocean Pines Police this week arrested a Berlin man on 48 counts of theft and rogue and vagabond after a joint investigation between Worcester and Wicomico County law enforcement agencies connected him to a series of thefts from vehicles in the area.

Ocean Pines Police this week arrested Donzel Haywood Henry, 44, and charged him with 24 counts of theft and 24 counts of rogue and vagabond for his alleged involvement in a series of thefts from unlocked vehicles in the Ocean Pines area over a period of several months. Among the items allegedly stolen by Henry were jewelry, money, GPS systems and cameras, some of which have been recovered.

Henry was identified as the suspect in the thefts as a result of a joint investigation involving the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) and its counterpart in Wicomico County. Henry is currently being held in the Wicomico County Detention Center on related charges for incidents that occurred in that jurisdiction.

Loaded Handgun

Charge Nets 30 Days

OCEAN CITY – A Virginia man arrested last month in Ocean City after fleeing resort police after a routine traffic stop and later getting caught with a loaded handgun pleaded guilty this week in District Court to carrying a handgun on his person and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Shortly before 3 a.m. on Nov. 5, an Ocean City police officer on patrol in the area of 100th Street observed a vehicle with a rear license plate light not working and pulled it over on a routine traffic stop. According to police reports, the officer began getting suspicious about the vehicle when the driver had to open the driver’s side door to interact with him. The driver told police he could not roll down the window because he had just had tint applied to the glass.

Nonetheless, the officer exchanged information with the driver and issued a warning for the defective light, but when he returned with the warning, he noticed the vehicle’s three other occupants acting suspiciously.

The officer noted the passengers were slumped over and almost lying down. When the officer spoke again to the driver, he noticed the driver was extremely nervous with his hands shaking and pulse accelerating. The officer than asked the driver if anyone in the vehicle had any illegal guns or knives, to which the driver replied no. The officer then asked for and was granted permission to search the vehicle and asked all of the occupants to get out of the car.

As the officer, now assisted by other officers, began to pat down the driver and the other occupants, one of the suspects, later identified as Khiry Akeim Six, 18, of Virginia Beach, began to furtively move away. At that point, the officer found a shotgun shell on the car’s floorboard. Six then took off and ran away from the scene toward the beach.

The officers chased Six to an area near a dead-end alley at the Fountainhead condominiums where the pursuit ended. The officers observed Six discard an object and soon after discovered a revolver-style pistol with its barrel buried in loose, wet sand. Six was taken into custody and agreed to talk to the officers about the gun, an old, rusty Forehand and Wadsworth model 5-shot revolver with four metal-jacketed rounds in the cylinder.

When questioned, Six said he got scared when confronted by police and ran to get rid of the handgun. He further told police it was tucked in his pants pocket during the traffic stop and he discarded it behind the trashcans when chased. This week, Six pleaded guilty to a handgun charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Boardwalk Beater Convicted

SNOW HILL – One of two men arrested and charged with assault and theft in the brutal beating of a pedestrian on the Boardwalk in June pleaded guilty this week to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Clifton Budd, 18, of Silver Spring, Md., this week pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for his part in the beating and robbery of another man on the Boardwalk in June. Budd was sentenced to 30 days in jail and was placed on probation for two years and fined $500. He was also ordered to pay $649 in restitution to the victim. Budd’s co-defendant in the case, Brandon Fairchild, 19, of Gaithersburg, is scheduled to appear for his trial in the case in January.

Shortly before midnight on June 10, Ocean City Police officers were called to 22nd Street and the Boardwalk to meet with a robbery victim. The victim told officers he was walking along the Boardwalk when he was approached by four males. One of the men stuck the victim in the head, knocking him to the ground. Another man demanded money. The victim surrendered his cash and one of the men stole his baseball cap as well, police said.

Two of the suspects, Budd and Fairchild, were located and arrested a short time later at 24th Street and Baltimore Avenue. They were still in possession of the victim’s hat and money. Budd was sentenced this week to 30 days in jail, and as a special condition of his sentence, he will not begin serving his time until June 1, 2009.

Probation, Fine For
Beer Bottle Basher

SNOW HILL – A California man arrested in May for allegedly hitting another man over the head with a beer bottle during a fight in the downtown area received probation before judgment last week in Circuit Court and was fined $500.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on May 18, Ocean City Police arrested Richard G. Ortiz, Jr., 37, of Odenton, Calif., on first- and second-degree assault charges for allegedly hitting another man over the head with a beer bottle after getting bounced from a downtown bar.

On May 18, OCPD officers responded to the area of Dorchester Street and Baltimore Ave. for a reported assault that had just occurred. Upon arrival, the officers learned the victim was being treated for lacerations to his ear and head at the nearby fire station. The victim told police he had been struck in the head with a beer bottle by a man later identified as Ortiz, Jr.

The victim said Ortiz had just been thrown out of the Purple Moose on the Boardwalk at Talbot Street after flashing a badge and saying he was a federal agent. The victim encountered Ortiz when he walked around the corner on Talbot Street and Ortiz hit him in the head with a beer bottle he still had in his possession after getting bounced from the bar.

The victim and his friend chased Ortiz to Dorchester Street but lost sight of him when he ran between buildings. OCPD officers responded to the area and eventually located Ortiz on a first-floor balcony and took him into custody. While the victim said Ortiz was the initial aggressor in the attack, Ortiz told a different story. He admitted getting thrown out of the bar, but said he was walking down Talbot Street when he was approached by the victim and his friend.

Ortiz said the two men approached him and wanted to fight, and Ortiz only hit the victim with the beer bottle because he felt threatened and was trying to defend himself. Ortiz told police at the time he had to call his commander and tell him what happened, then dialed a number and told his version of the story, presumably to his commander on the phone. It is uncertain whether or not Ortiz was really a federal agent. Last week, Ortiz pleaded not guilty to the assault charges and was granted probation before judgment. He was then placed on probation for just 30 days and was fined $500.

Suspended Sentence For

Handgun, Laptop Thief

SNOW HILL – A Berlin man arrested in Ocean City in August for breaking into vehicles in the resort after a latent fingerprint collected at the crime scene connected him to the thefts pleaded guilty this week in Circuit Court to fourth-degree burglary and was sentenced to 18 months, with all time suspended but the 115 days he already spent behind bars.

On Aug. 5, OCPD officers responded to the parking lot of the Commander Hotel in the downtown area for a reported theft from a motor vehicle. Police met with the victim who told them his car had been broken into and a laptop computer and .22 caliber handgun had been stolen. The OCPD Forensic Service Unit (FSU) responded to the scene and processed the vehicle for evidence.

FSU technician Sharon Shultz recovered several pieces of evidence including a latent fingerprint, which later turned out to be the crucial component in solving the case and eventually recovering the stolen computer and handgun. The fingerprint lifted from the vehicle was analyzed by the Maryland State Police crime lab and was found to belong to a suspect identified as Justin Carl McCargo, 19, of Berlin.

OCPD investigators then learned McCargo was being held in the Worcester County Jail on an unrelated burglary charge. Police questioned McCargo at the jail regarding the theft and the suspect admitted committing the theft at the Commander parking lot in August.

OCPD officers then located the stolen laptop computer in Berlin, and the stolen handgun has been recovered from a residence in Ocean Pines. This week, McCargo pleaded guilty to fourth-degree burglary and was sentenced to 18 months with all time suspended but the 115 days he has already spent in jail awaiting trial.

Doc’s Case Headed

To Circuit Court

SNOW HILL – An Ocean City doctor arrested in September on drug and traffic charges on Route 50 in Berlin, his latest arrest in a string of recent arrests in both Worcester and Wicomico Counties, appeared for trial in District Court in Snow Hill last week and had his case forwarded to the Circuit Court.

In November, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended the medical license of Doctor Jock Simon, a Salisbury resident who maintains an office in north Ocean City, after an investigation revealed a pattern of alleged crack cocaine use and other sordid activities including numerous arrests over a period of about a year and a half including an incident in Worcester County in September.

Around 4:35 p.m. on Sept. 19, a Maryland State Police trooper stopped Simon on Route 50 in Berlin after receiving a call from a concerned citizen about a potentially intoxicated driver. The trooper responded and pulled Simon over after observing his vehicle straddling the line between the slow lane and the shoulder of the highway.

As a second officer was approaching the vehicle, he observed Simon throw a clear, glass smoking device out of the passenger side of the vehicle. Simon was the arrested on drug and paraphernalia possession charges. He was scheduled for trial in that case last week in District Court in Ocean City, but requested a jury trial and had his case forwarded to Circuit Court. No new court date has been set.

Simon’s arrest in Worcester County in September as just the latest in a string of run-ins with the law for the Ocean City doctor. In May 2007, Simon was arrested on crack cocaine possession charges in Wicomico County but those charges were ultimately dropped. In May 2008, Simon was again arrested in Wicomico County on drug possession charges after he was pulled over when an MSP trooper observed his vehicle crossing a double yellow line.

When the officer asked him to step out of his vehicle, he dropped a pink dry cleaning receipt on the ground that contained a rock of crack cocaine. The charges against Simon for the arrests in Wicomico County also remain active. In November, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended Simon’s license to practice medicine based on its own investigation into long string of arrests.

OC Cops Recognized

For Drunk Driving Work

OCEAN CITY – Two Ocean City Police officers last week were recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for their outstanding effort in keeping roadways in the resort safe from alcohol impaired drivers.

MADD’s Chesapeake Region held its annual Eastern Shore Law Enforcement Recognition Breakfast last Friday in Salisbury. During the function MADD recognized two OCPD officers, Pfc. Patrick Flynn and Pfc. Aaron Morgan, for their efforts in drunk-driving enforcement. Morgan was a seasonal officer with the OCPD in the summer of 2004 and became a full time officer with the department in May 2006. He has made over 50 DUI-related arrests this year as a member of the OCPD’s traffic safety unit.

Flynn became a full-time officer in January 2005 after two years as a seasonal officer. In 2007, he was recognized by MADD due to his involvement in over 70 DUI arrests. He was recognized again this year for his more than 60 DUI arrests.