WEST OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City woman was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run accident on Keyser Point Rd. on Monday night.
Around 9:15 p.m. on Monday, Maryland State Police (MSP) troopers responded to a reported motor vehicle accident on Keyser Point Rd. involving a pedestrian and a driver who fled the scene. Upon arrival, troopers interviewed a witness and collected evidence from the scene suggesting the vehicle that fled was a red truck, possibly a Chevrolet or GMC.
A perimeter was established with the MSP and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. Shortly after the collision, a Sheriff’s deputy observed a red Chevy Tahoe on Golf Course Rd. at Route 50 with passenger side view mirror damage. The driver, identified as Salah Sbeih Ramadan, 64, of West Ocean City, was detained and interviewed. Ramadan allegedly told police he knew he struck something with his vehicle, but did not know it was a person.
Ramadan was charged with failing to return and remain at the scene of a collision involving bodily injury and was released on citation. The pedestrian, identified as Michelle Bowers, 49, of Ocean City, was transported to PRMC in Salisbury by ambulance. By Tuesday, Bowers was reportedly home from the hospital and had some staples and was sore, but otherwise okay.
Meanwhile, a fatal hit-and-run accident in West Ocean City in September that claimed the life of a Boardwalk business owner and involved a suspected full-size red Ford pickup truck has not been solved. However, there is no nexus between that incident and Monday’s hit-and-run accident other than the color of the vehicle involved and the general West Ocean City location, according to authorities.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2013, MSP troopers responded to a reported motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian in West Ocean City on eastbound Route 50 near its intersection with Elm Street. Upon arrival, MSP troopers discovered a male victim, later identified as Jerold Sharoff, 58, of West Ocean City, with injuries that appeared to be life-threatening. Sharoff was pronounced dead at AGH a short time later. He was reportedly attempting to cross the eastbound lanes of Route 50 at the time of the collision.
Witnesses at the scene reported the vehicle involved in the collision was a full-size red Ford pickup truck, which reportedly continued eastbound on Route 50 toward Ocean City where witnesses lost sight of it. Law enforcement agencies throughout Worcester County immediately searched the area for the truck to no avail. Worcester County Sheriff’s Office officials this week confirmed that neither the suspect nor the vehicle in that case has been located and it remains an open investigation.