Popular Former Local Dies In Crash

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City community and the entire state lost a true treasure last weekend when a popular former local and Baltimore restaurateur died after being struck by a bus while riding his bicycle on Coastal Highway.

Around 8:38 p.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police and paramedics responded to the area of 132nd Street and Coastal Highway for a reported vehicle collision involving a municipal bus and a bicycle. Emergency personnel arrived at the scene and determined a bicycle being operated by an adult male, later identified as Patrick Michael “Scunty” McCusker, 49, of Cockeysville, was struck by a city bus traveling in the northbound bus lane in the area of 132nd Street and Coastal Highway.

McCusker was gravely injured during the collision and was treated on the scene by Ocean City EMS. He was transported first to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin before being transferred to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where he later died. Police this week continued the investigation into the fatal collision. The identity of the bus driver has not been released and no charges are expected, nor has there been any hint of wrongdoing.

McCusker lived and worked in Ocean City for more than a decade through his college years and after and became a fixture in the resort community. Throughout his time in Ocean City, he worked for the Harrison Group at Reflections and the Holiday Inn Pool Bar at 66th Street, Smitty McGee’s in West Fenwick Island and the original Greene Turtle, among others.

His zest for life and his knack for telling a great story and quick wit were exceeded only by his remarkable penchant for philanthropy and good deeds. Many of his charitable deeds and endless giving in the resort area were well documented, but he did so many little things for others without mention or credit.

After his time in the Ocean City area, McCusker moved back to his native Baltimore and opened Nacho Mama’s on the square in Canton, a downtown neighborhood he is largely credited for revitalizing. A few years later, he opened Mama’s on the Half Shell, just a few doors down from his original location on O’Donnell Street and the two businesses have thrived since.

Chief among his many charitable beneficiaries was the Believe in Tomorrow program in general and the Children’s House by the Sea in Ocean City. For the last few years, McCusker has paddled a kayak from Baltimore to Ocean City each fall as part of a major fundraiser for Believe in Tomorrow and the Children’s House by the Sea.