SNOW HILL- A Stockton man arrested in October arrested in October after a wild pursuit and brief standoff during which he dragged a Maryland State Police trooper behind his vehicle pleaded guilty this week to two charges related to the incident and was sentenced to eight years in jail with much of the time suspended, but still faces serious charges related to the staged armed robbery of an Ocean City hotel in August.
George M. Taylor, 23, of Stockton, was in Circuit Court on Monday facing a wide variety of serious charges related to an incident in October when he fled from police in a vehicle and actually dragged an MSP trooper before ending a brief standoff and surrendering. Taylor was wanted in Worcester County on an outstanding warrant related to what turned out to be a staged armed robbery at the Stowaway Grand Hotel in Ocean City in August.
In the first phase of his case this week, Taylor pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to six years in jail with all but six months suspended. He also pleaded guilty to carrying a handgun on his person and was sentenced to two years for that charge, all of which was suspended, resulting in a net six months.
Taylor was arrested on October 17 after a wild pursuit and brief standoff during which a Maryland State Police trooper was dragged by the suspect’s vehicle before shooting out a tire and freeing himself. Around 12:30 p.m. on October 17, an MSP trooper from the Princess Anne barrack stopped a Mercury passenger car driven by Taylor for speeding on Route 667 just north of Pocomoke. The trooper ran a warrant check on Taylor and found he was wanted in Worcester County.
When the trooper returned to the car and ordered Taylor out of the vehicle at gunpoint, the suspect put the car in gear and attempted to flee. The trooper reached into the vehicle in an attempt to put the car back in park, but Taylor refused to submit to the officer’s commands and drove off, dragging the trooper a short distance alongside the vehicle.
Fearing for his life, the trooper was able to reach his service revolver and fired a shot at a rear tire on the vehicle, deflating it. The trooper was then able to disengage himself from the vehicle and ran back to his patrol car and began to pursue Taylor.
Taylor drove for about two miles with the trooper in pursuit before turning into a private property. He got out of the vehicle and ran first toward a shed before changing direction and running into the house. Several MSP troopers surrounded the house and ordered Taylor to come out. After about 15 minutes, Taylor was arrested without further incident.
Taylor was taken into custody and later charged with a variety of serious offenses related to the chase and brief standoff, but his arrest triggered a series of events that led to the solving of the alleged armed robbery at the Stowaway in Ocean City three months earlier.
Around 5 a.m. on August 6, OCPD detectives responded to the Stowaway Hotel on 21st Street for a reported armed robbery. Upon arrival, they interviewed the desk clerk and night auditor who told police a masked man armed with a gun had entered the hotel, forced her to open a safe and duct-taped her to a chair before fleeing with tens of thousands of dollars.
OCPD Detectives Brett Case and Shawn Jones listened attentively to the clerk, later identified as Brady Ashley Greer, 21, of Snow Hill and other known addresses, while forming their own opinions about what really happened that morning. Their suspicions were confirmed to some degree when the mystery armed robber, later identified Taylor, who was Greer’s boyfriend, confirmed it was an inside job allegedly planned by Greer and carried out by the couple.
When Case and Jones got a chance to interview Taylor after his arrest for the chase and standoff, Taylor quickly spilled his guts, telling the detectives it was Greer who planned and arranged the phony armed robbery. As the desk clerk and night auditor, Greer knew how much money would be on hand on a busy summer weekend and where the money would be kept.
Armed with Taylor’s admission, the OCPD detectives turned their attention to Greer, who had since left the resort area. After the OCPD detectives made contact with the suspect’s family, Greer ultimately turned herself in. Both Taylor and Greer were charged with theft over $500, conspiracy theft over $500 and false statement to an officer. The felony armed robbery charges were not pursued because there was no evidence Taylor used a gun in the commission of the crime.
Greer appeared in District Court in Ocean City on February 11 and was found guilty on all three charges. Her case is being held in sub curia pending the outcome of a pre-sentence investigation, although no sentencing date has been determined. Taylor, meanwhile, has an April 3 court date in Circuit Court during which he will be tried on charges related to the faked armed robbery of the Stowaway Grand Hotel in Ocean City.