Similar Articles
NEW FOR THURSDAY: Months Later, Post-Fire Rebuilding Efforts Now In Full Swing
OCEAN CITY -- Months after a pair of devastating fires in and around O...READ MORENEW FOR THURSDAY: Citizens Add Input To OC Strategic Planning Effort
OCEAN CITY – As part of the ongoing strategic planning process, ...READ MORENEW FOR WEDNESDAY: Woman Hits Fiance With Beer Can, Then Bean Can
OCEAN CITY -- An Ocean City woman was arrested on assault charges twic...READ MORENEW FOR WEDNESDAY: Resort Council Approves Committee Structure
OCEAN CITY – At the conclusion of the Mayor and City CouncilR...READ MORENEW FOR TUESDAY: OC Arrests Jumped 14% Last Year; Disorderly Conduct Tops Calls For Service
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) Acting Chief Ke...READ MORESnyder Wins Annual Officer Of Year Honors
OCEAN CITY -- Less than a week after the new ballroom at the Roland E....READ MOREOC Fire Dept. Scores $383K Grant
OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Fire Department this week got a fiscal sh...READ MORESalisbury Seeking Lower Alarm Fines
SALISBURY – To have false alarm fees become more equitable with ...READ MOREOC’s Last Homicide Still ‘Open Case’
OCEAN CITY -- While a homicide investigation involving the death of a ...READ MOREResident Outcry Leads Berlin To Relocate Wind Turbine
BERLIN -- With the discomfort of residents clear, the Berlin Town Coun...READ MORE
NEW FOR TUESDAY: Bayfront Resident Fires At Boat To Protect Home
OCEAN CITY -- It’s always a tragic event when a property owner has to resort to gunfire to defend his or her home. Luckily, this time the threat came in the form of an unmanned boat propelled by storm surge.
During Hurricane Sandy on Monday, Eden Roc Hotel owner Bill Salvatore found himself faced with an incredibly unusual situation: a roughly 30-foot boat hurtling toward his home.
According to Salvatore, who lives on Marlin Drive off 21st Street, concerned neighbors called him Monday morning to report that a rogue boat had slipped whatever was securing it and was being pushed by waves and surge from the hurricane towards his home.
“This was at the beginning of the storm,” said Salvatore.
As Salvatore watched, he claimed the boat slammed into the davit for his wave runner, causing massive damage.
“It was pounding on my wave runner davit … it completely destroyed that,” he said.
As soon as his neighbors alerted him to the danger, Salvatore said he called first the Ocean City Police Department and then, at the OCPD’s direction, the Department of Natural Resources. Neither agency was able to offer assistance during the storm. It was at that point that Salvatore said he made a final call to his attorney to double-check on what the law says about protecting a home at the risk of another’s property.
Satisfied that he did have the right to stop the boat before it could do more harm, Salvatore went to his balcony armed with a rifle.
In Salvatore’s assessment, the craft, which was caught on the damaged davit, posed a threat to his property and an even greater hazard to his neighbor’s home. So Salvatore tried to sink the boat.
“Well, I shot it about 15 times with a deer rifle,” he said.
While the boat did eventually run aground, Salvatore was skeptical that he had actually sunk it with gunfire and guessed that the jagged remains of his davit had likely done the damage that sank the ship.
“I don’t think my shooting had a thing to do with it sinking,” he said.
As surreal as the scenario of a man on a balcony firing at a boat during a hurricane may seem, Salvatore didn’t find any humor in the situation and instead expressed sympathy for the vessel’s owners.
“I didn’t like shooting somebody’s boat,” he said.
But Salvatore was also adamant that he does not regret trying to protect his and his neighbor’s homes and believes that the surging boat had presented a real threat to property and safety in the neighborhood.
There are 17 comment(s).
Jokes aside - nice darts Bill.
New NBC sitcom: 'Law and Order - OC!'
~BUSHMAN!~
Leave a comment
