OCEAN CITY — A West Virginia teen has been charged as an adult for first-degree assault and other charges after twice flashing a loaded handgun during separate altercations in Ocean City last weekend.
Around 11:25 p.m. on June 6, an OCPD officer on bike patrol in the downtown area observed a group of teens walking north on Baltimore Ave. in the area of 17th Street when the male members of the group began aggressively yelling and arguing, suggesting a fight was about to begin. The officer observed two males actively engaged in a fight.
As the two males began to separate, the OCPD officer grabbed one of the combatants, later identified as Timothy Nathanial Butts, 16, of Falling Waters, W.Va., in an effort to control him and prevent further fighting. While the officer was attempting to subdue Butts, he heard a female in the group shout, “He’s got a gun, He’s got a gun.”
After the officer was able to get Butts on the ground and gain control of both of his hands, he asked the suspect if he was carrying a gun, to which Butts answered yes. The officer asked Butts where the gun was located and the suspect replied it was in his front right pocket. On two occasions, Butts made an attempt to physically grab the gun, according to police reports. During the subsequent search, the officer located the loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun in Butts’ shorts pocket.
Witnesses told police Butts had raised his shirt and showed the crowd the gun during the altercation. After Butts was read his Miranda rights, he agreed to speak with police about the gun. Butts told the officers he took the gun from an assailant during a failed robbery attempt in Martinsburg, W.Va. and that he had been carrying it ever he since he got possession of the weapon a couple weeks earlier.
After Butts was arrested, another OCPD officer advised he had responded to a similar complaint about 45 minutes earlier. The second officer said a fight had occurred in the area of 21st Street during which one of the combatants pulled a gun and allegedly told those involved in the fray, “You don’t want to [expletive deleted] with us,” according to police reports.
Based on the statements of witnesses and the officers’ observations and interviews, Butts was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, possession of firearm by a minor and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Butts has been charged as an adult.