SNOW HILL — Two of the three Pennsylvania men indicted on armed robbery and other serious charges following the June 14 attack on an Ocean City municipal bus driver were each sentenced this week in Worcester County Circuit Court to three years in prison.
In October, Josiah Mincer, 18, of York, Pa., entered in Alford Plea to robbery for his role in the June 14 attack on a resort bus driver. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the state has enough evidence to prosecute the case. Back in court on Monday, Mincer was sentenced to six years in prison, all but three of which was then suspended. He was also placed on probation for three years upon his release.
In November, another defendant in the case, Marquez Ellis, 19, also of York, pleaded guilty to robbery and second-degree assault. On Tuesday, Ellis was sentenced to eight years, all but three of which were suspended. Ellis was also placed on probation for three years and fined $500. Both suspects were ordered to pay shares of $4,916 in restitution to the Town of Ocean City. The third suspect, Jaleel Henderson, 18, of York, Pa., is scheduled to appear for trial in February.
Around 1 a.m. on June 14, the three suspects allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a municipal bus driver after passengers were picked up along Baltimore Ave. near Worcester Street. According to sources, the dispute began when the suspects did not have exact change and the bus driver informed them they could not ride without the exact $3 fare per passenger.
A short time later, Ocean City Communications informed OCPD officers in the area an assault had occurred on a municipal bus. OCPD officer arrived on the scene and observed three suspects believed to be Ellis, Mincer and Henderson running from the bus. Numerous witnesses and bystanders pointed at the three suspects running from the scene, according to police reports.
Ocean City EMS arrived on the scene and began treatment on the injured bus driver, who had cuts on his face and head and a large amount of bleeding. The responding officer reported the injuries sustained by the bus driver were the results of one of the suspects striking the victim with an unidentified weapon, which was later identified as the microphone bus driver’s use to communicate with each other. According to police reports, the driver was disoriented and had to be taken by ambulance to AGH and at one point had trouble breathing. The driver was released from the hospital later the following morning.
Meanwhile, the responding OCPD officers observed one of the suspects, later identified as Ellis running through the property of the Atlantic Hotel. Ellis reportedly ran through a narrow passageway and through the property pursued by OCPD officers, who on several occasions ordered him to stop and go to the ground. Ellis failed to comply and sprinted west through the Somerset Street Plaza. The officer observed 40-60 people in and around the Somerset Street Plaza stop and look at Ellis with looks of disgust on their faces, according to police reports. Most in the area stopped and remained motionless and continued to point at the suspect.
OCPD officers at one point observed the two other suspects, presumably Mincer and Henderson, running with Ellis before splitting up and going in different directions. Ellis continued to run north on Baltimore Ave. with police in pursuit ordering him to stop and get on the ground. At one point, Ellis ran through traffic on Baltimore Ave. and several vehicles pulled over and stopped to avoid hitting him. Finally, in the area of Dorchester Street, Ellis finally went to his knees and gave up. Ellis was taken into custody and in his possession was found a single dollar bill and a bus ticket believed to have been stolen during the assault on the driver.