OCEAN CITY — A Virginia man was arrested early Thursday morning after leading police on a motor vehicle chase that began on the south end of the Boardwalk and ended at 9th Street.
Around 3:11 a.m. on Thursday, an OCPD officer on bicycle patrol observed a vehicle driving north on the Boardwalk in the area of 1st Street. The officer observed the vehicle stop on the Boardwalk and engage in conversation with pedestrians. The vehicle then turned around and headed south on the Boardwalk. The bicycle officer attempted to catch up to the vehicle as it continued south on the Boardwalk.
The vehicle accelerated down the Boardwalk at a high rate of speed with the bicycle officer attempting to give chase, but it was able to pull away and gain distance from the officer. The OCPD officer noted in the report of the incident there were still several pedestrians on the Boardwalk despite the early morning hour.
When the vehicle reached North Division Street, it stopped and the OCPD bicycle officer observed its reverse lights illuminate. The vehicle then left the Boardwalk via the emergency access ramp at North Division Street. The vehicle, driven by Derrick Lamont Freeman, 26, of Newport News, eventually stopped at North Division Street and Baltimore Ave.
The officer approached the vehicle and ordered Freeman to put it into park. According to police reports, Freeman manipulated the vehicle’s gear shift and looked at the officer with a blank stare. Freeman allegedly told the officer he was just going to pull over onto Baltimore Avenue, but he accelerated north at a high rate of speed.
Another officer in an unmarked police vehicle picked up the chase at 8th Street. Freeman eventually pulled into a motel parking lot at 9th Street and stopped. The responding officer observed Freeman open the door and attempt to exit the vehicle with one foot on the ground, but he was still restrained by his seatbelt. Freeman was ultimately ordered out of the vehicle and allegedly told the officer he was drunk and lost and couldn’t find his hotel.
Freeman performed poorly on field sobriety test and was taken into custody on drunk-driving charges and several traffic violations. Freeman told officers he was “never coming back to Maryland.” When the officers informed him he would have to return for court appearances, he allegedly told them, “then come and get me.”