OCEAN CITY — A local homeless woman was arrested on burglary and weapons charges this week after allegedly entering an occupied rental property and acting as if she was part of the housekeeping crew.
Around 9:45 a.m. on Monday, an OCPD officer responded to the Madison House, a house rented by the Madison Beach Motel, for a report of a female who had entered the house and been asked to leave. The manager of the Madison Beach Motel told police the occupants of the Madison House complained a woman in her 30s and entered her unit without permission and had been asked to leave numerous times.
Another OCPD officer located the suspect, later identified as Michelle Denise Rogers, 48, of no fixed address, in the parking lot of a convenience store nearby. Rogers told the officer she had entered the residence to use the bathroom and that she had permission to do so from the tenant.
The tenant told police she had been staying at the residence with her boyfriend and that Rogers approached her boyfriend in the parking lot and asked him if she could use the bathroom. The couple allowed Rogers to use the bathroom and she left without incident, but returned a short time later. When she returned, she entered the residence through a rear door and began spraying air freshener throughout the house and acting as if she was a housekeeper.
The tenant told police Rogers began acting strangely, which is when the tenant went to the motel desk to complain. A short time later, police arrived and located Rogers. According to police reports, Rogers in homeless and living in Ocean City and had multiple encounters with the police throughout the summer. For example, Rogers had previously used the guise of being a housekeeper or member of a cleaning staff to gain access to public restrooms and stayed in the bathrooms for extended periods of time, panhandling in the bathrooms when guests arrived.
According to police reports, Rogers had also been contacted by the OCPD at the 144th Street Transit Station numerous times throughout the summer for sleeping on the benches and panhandling visitors.
According to police reports, Rogers was uncooperative with officers on the scene. For example, when she was asked where she lived, she told police she didn’t. When asked where she slept, she told police “I don’t sleep, I work on my projects all night,” according to police reports. When asked where she worked, she reportedly told police she worked at the laundromat on Coastal Highway doing laundry for hotels, but couldn’t identify which laundromat.
Finally, the OCPD officer arrested Rogers for fourth-degree burglary, trespassing, and hindering an investigation by not providing an address where she could be reached and sent court papers. During a subsequent search, OCPD officers found a pointed metal nail file and a three-eighths-of-an-inch “spade blade” drill bit estimated at around seven inches long concealed in Rogers’ hair.
According to police reports, both of the objects easily accessible to Rogers and were very sharp and fully capable of causing serious or fatal injuries to anyone who might be stabbed or slashed with them. Officers also located a one-inch-thick wooden stick estimated at around 28 inches and a metal pipe estimated to be 16 inches long and about a half-inch thick. According to police reports, the officer believed the items to be improvised impact weapons. The drill bit and nail file could also be used as burglary tools.
Rogers had a bail review hearing on Tuesday and was ordered to be held on a $5,000 bond. Trial has been set for Oct. 19.
Hit-and-Run Nets Weapons Bust
OCEAN CITY — A New Jersey man was arrested on weapons charges last weekend when a large knife was found in his vehicle following a hit-and-run accident in the midtown area.
Around 10 p.m. last Friday, a bar security manager from Seacrets contacted the OCPD about a driver who had left the establishment’s parking lot after striking and damaging an unattended motorcycle. The responding officer determined there was damage to the motorcycle and that the driver, later identified as Michael Tirone, 22, of Budd Lake, N.J. had left the scene of an accident involving property damage.
An OCPD officer on patrol in the area of 36th Street observed Tirone’s vehicle driving 42 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone and affected a traffic stop. Tirone’s vehicle had no headlights on or any other illuminating devices despite the nighttime conditions. The officer also observed Tirone’s vehicle following the vehicle in front of him too closely.
During the traffic stop, Tirone exhibited several signs of intoxication. He admitted drinking at the nightclub and that the nightclub security manager told him not to drive because of his intoxicated state. Tirone admitted someone ran after him as he left the parking lot and told him he had hit another vehicle.
After Tirone failed to complete a battery of field sobriety tests to the officer’s satisfaction, he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage. During a subsequent search of Tirone’s vehicle, officers located a black fixed-blade Buck knife in the door map pocket next to the driver’s seat and concealed deadly weapon charges were added.
Stumbling In Highway
OCEAN CITY — A Virginia man was arrested on drug and weapons charges last weekend after Ocean City Police stopped him from stumbling drunk in traffic early Sunday morning.
Around 3 a.m. last Sunday, an OCPD officer on patrol in the area of 32nd Street and Baltimore Ave. observed a male later identified as Abraham Hovsepian, 24, of Fairfax, Va., stumbling in the roadway. According to police reports, Hovsepian stumbled into the path of two vehicles on Baltimore Ave., causing the motorists to brake quickly to avoid hitting him. Hovsepian raised his arms in disgust toward the motorists as if they had done something wrong, according to police reports.
Hovsepian then stumbled back to his left into a parked car. When the suspect stumbled back into the roadway in front of the officer’s patrol vehicle, he was detained. The officer attempted to find out where Hovsepian was staying in order to get him home, but the suspect was unable to tell the officer where he was residing in Ocean City. When asked how much he had to drink, Hovsepian told the officer he was not certain, but that he was drunk.
At that point, Hovsepian was taken into custody for blocking free passage on the roadway and disorderly intoxication. During a search of the suspect incident to the arrest, the officer located a bag of powdered cocaine and a set of metal knuckles, a concealed dangerous weapon.