Chicken, Potatoes Robbery

Chicken, Potatoes Robbery
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OCEAN CITY – A Salisbury man was arrested on robbery and theft charges last week after allegedly threatening a convenience store clerk if she didn’t give him fried chicken and potatoes.

Last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer on a routine business check at the Royal Farms store on 83rd Street was approached by a female employee who told the officer about an incident the night before. The employee told the officer two males came into the store a little before 9 p.m. on Thursday and threatened her if she did not give them food.

The clerk told police the two men came in to purchase beer and cigarettes when the taller of the two men, later identified as Tyrone K. Jordan, 27, told her to give him free chicken. The clerk reportedly told Jordan she could not give him free chicken or she would lose her job. At that point, she opened the cash register to clear the beer and cigarette sale when Jordan allegedly leaned over and peered into register drawer.

The clerk said there was not much money in the drawer at the time, according to police reports. The employee said Jordan then leaned over the counter, forcing her to back up toward a cigarette display, and ordered her to give him chicken. The clerk told police she was scared that if she didn’t comply, she was scared they would hurt her. The clerk said she went over to the area where the fried chicken was on display and began putting a few pieces into a box. The smaller of the two men, as yet unidentified, told her to “put some of them potatoes and some cheese in there too.”

The clerk said the two men then left the store and got into a silver car. The employee said she did not call the police at the time because she was afraid they would come back and hurt her. At that point, the officer, the employee and the store manager began viewing video surveillance footage of the incident from the night before. It was a difficult task because the employees didn’t know exactly how to operate the equipment, but the officer viewed enough of the footage to begin writing down a description of the suspects.

While that was going on, a male and female walked into the store and the clerk accosted the night before got a very scared look on her face, according to police reports. The officer asked her if she was okay and she replied she thought the man who had just entered the store might be the man who had robbed her the night before. “He looks just like him, but it’s a different hat,” she said.

The male turned around and saw the officer and immediately turned and began to leave the store. The officer followed the man and identified him from his license as Tyrone K. Jordan. The officer asked Jordan if he had been in Ocean City the night before, to which he responded, “Well, I bought some beer here yesterday, but that woman gave me that chicken box.” The officer noted in his report he hadn’t yet said anything about the chicken.

Jordan made other statements, according to police reports, such as “It’s late at night and they always give free chicken away,” and “all this [expletive deleted] over some dumbass chicken,” and “I got money in my pocket and I can just pay for it.” At that point, the officer knew he had the right suspect, according to police reports.

The officer went back inside and asked the clerk to identify the suspect, which she did through the window of the store. Jordan was arrested and charged with robbery, to which he allegedly responded “What for?” The officer explained the robbery charge, to which Jordan allegedly responded, “This is some [expletive deleted], being charged with robbery for some [expletive deleted] chicken box.”

The value of the chicken stolen from Royal Farms was $15.

Several Arrests At Bar Closing

OCEAN CITY – Four people were arrested on various assault and resisting arrest charges last week during a fracas outside a downtown nightclub around closing time.

Shortly before 2 a.m. last Sunday, OCPD responded to the area outside the Paddock nightclub to handle a large crowd of allegedly intoxicated and disorderly individuals. An OCPD officer was called to assist another officer in the area, who was attempting to separate two groups of individuals. As the officer approached the scene, he observed an individual, later identified as Keith Cornelius Miles, 22, of Salisbury, with his shirt off and in an apparently agitated state.

A female in the group, identified as Elizabeth Whaley, was yelling at Miles, and Miles was yelling back at her. At some point, Miles grabbed Whaley by the face and shoved her hard enough that she had to take a big step backward to avoid falling and she then bent over at the waist, according to police reports.

The officer approached Miles and told him he was under arrest and ordered him to put his hands behind his back, which Miles refused. When told again, Miles allegedly tensed up and tried to pull away from the officer and reportedly said, “I ain’t doing [expletive deleted] for you.” According to police reports, Miles than ran toward the officer, who told him to get down on the ground. Miles continued to resist and the officer attempted an arm bar take down.

According to police reports, it was raining at the time and the ground was wet, causing the officer’s feet to slip out from under him and he landed on his hip. Miles then turned toward the fallen officer and made another run at him while he was on the ground. According to police reports, the officer kicked Miles in the leg and pushed him back. After a continued scuffle, another officer assisted the first officer and was able to restrain Miles, who was then handcuffed. Miles was arrested and charged with second-degree assault on the female and resisting arrest.

Meanwhile, the woman who was initially arguing with Miles, identified as Elizabeth Anne Whaley, 24, of Salisbury, stood behind the officers as they attempted to arrest Miles. Whaley was told several times to move back as the officers were arresting Miles, but she continued to stand directly over the officer who was kneeling down while taking Miles into custody.

According to police reports, Whaley was told at least five times to stand back by different officers and each time she refused. At one point, she allegedly told police she wasn’t leaving. When Whaley was told to move back or she would be arrested, she reportedly told police she was going to have to be arrested then. Whaley was eventually arrested and charged with intentionally obstructing and hindering a police officer in the performance of his lawful duties.

Around the same time, another man involved in the original altercation, later identified as Phillip Whaley, 26, of Salisbury, tried to come into the area where Miles and Elizabeth Whaley were being taken into custody. He was told to stand back at least 25 feet, but kept coming back. At one point, he was standing within one foot of the officers attempting to make the arrests of the other two suspects. The officers escorted Whaley further down the block and told him to give them five minutes to process the arrestees and they would answer any of his questions. One officer actually showed Whaley a line on the sidewalk and told him not to come past it, according to police reports.

Whaley again came into the arrest area and had to be physically escorted out. A few minutes later, one of the officers was standing near his police vehicle filling out arrest papers when Whaley confronted him again. The officer reported Whaley distracted him to the point where he had to re-write his reports and lost one of the suspect’s identification cards at one point.

Later, when the officer was standing near the prisoner transport van containing the arrestees, Whaley again came up and distracted the officers. At that point, Whaley was arrested and taken into custody and charged with obstructing and hindering. During a search incident to the arrest, Whaley was found to be in possession of two bags of suspected marijuana. When the marijuana was discovered, Whaley allegedly said, “that’s right, there’s two of them. They are weed.” A possession of marijuana charges was then tacked on to the original charge.

More Brawling At Nightclub

OCEAN CITY – About an hour before the aforementioned incident, another fight outside a downtown nightclub led to the arrest of another man.

Shortly before 1 a.m., an OCPD officer working in the area of the Paddock nightclub observed security staff escorting several males from the property. Two of the individuals were yelling at each other and one, later identified as Trey Colby Cantwell, 23, of Parsonsburg, allegedly said to the other, “I’ll [expletive deleted] kill you. I don’t care. I’ll [expletive deleted] go to jail.”

Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered and began to back away from the two combatants. OCPD officers told Cantwell and the other man the fight was over and that they should just leave and go home. One officer walked in one direction with Cantwell, while another officer walked in a different direction with the other individual involved.

At some point, Cantwell broke free of the officer and ran toward the other individual, who was still with another OCPD officer, and thrust his chest into the other man, knocking him backward. At that point, OCPD officers attempted to take Cantwell into custody, but he resisted arrest. The officers attempted arm bar takedowns, but were restricted by poles on the sidewalk in the area.

They then attempted several knee strikes to bring Cantwell under control, but the suspect allegedly continued to battle with the officers. Cantwell was eventually subdued and was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Stop Leads To Weapons

OCEAN CITY – A Fruitland man was arrested last week on weapons charges after being found with a butterfly knife and a baseball bat following a drunk-driving stop.

Around 2:20 a.m. last Sunday, an OCPD officer traveling north on Philadelphia Ave. near Upshur Street observed a 2000 Chevy Malibu traveling north on the sidewalk adjacent to Philadelphia Ave. The vehicle then entered Philadelphia Ave. and accelerated east onto Upshur, striking the curb. The vehicle continued through the parking lot, striking a landscaped median and continued south through the parking lot.

The vehicle then drove over a sidewalk onto 20th Street, crossed the street and struck another curb on the south side of 20th Street. The vehicle drove up on the sidewalk on the south side of 20th Street and came to rest in a yard. The officer circled the block and arrived at the scene where he encountered the driver, later identified as Peter R. Battle, 24, of Fruitland, who appeared to be passed out in the driver’s seat.

When Battle got out of the vehicle, the officer immediately recognized him as the same man he had encountered five minutes earlier leaving a downtown nightclub. Battle was talking on his cell phone when police ordered him to drop the phone and show his hands. According to police reports, Battle displayed poor balance as he walked toward the OCPD officers, who handcuffed and detained him.

According to police reports, Battle became extremely emotional and began to cry. The officers attempted to administer field sobriety tests, but Battle could not stand on his own. He continued to cry and mumble indecipherable words, according to police reports. He was then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

During a search of the vehicle prior to it being towed from the scene, OCPD officers located a butterfly knife wedged between the driver’s seat and the center console. On the floor of the front passenger side of the vehicle, police located an aluminum baseball bat partially covered with a sweatshirt and a bandana. He was later administered a breath-alcohol content test which returned a result of .14. Battle was charged with driving under the influence and two counts of carrying a concealed deadly weapon.