OCEAN CITY — A Berlin woman faces first-degree assault charges this week after first slashing the tires of a bicycle at a downtown residence and then allegedly turning the knife on a man attempting to prevent her from leaving.
Around 2 a.m. last Thursday, an OCPD officer responded to a residence on St. Louis Ave. for a reported malicious destruction of property incident that had just occurred. The officer met with the victim who told police he was enjoying an evening at his residence with a female friend, identified as Kathleen Machen, 49, of Berlin. The victim told police Machen had been drinking and wanted to call an elderly friend who was severely ill, but the victim advised against making the call at that time because of her intoxication level.
The victim told police Machen began cursing at him while she gathered her belongings. The victim told police Machen would not leave his residence so he attempted to shut the door, but Machen allegedly became agitated and approached the victim’s bike locked up just outside the residence. Machen allegedly produced a folding knife from her bag and began slashing the bicycle’s tires.
The victim approached Machen from behind and attempted to stop her from further damaging the bicycle. As he did so, the victim wrapped his arms around Machen from behind in an attempt to constrain her, but Machen turned around and pointed at the victim with the knife in the open position. The victim told police Machen pointed the knife toward him and said, “I’m going to [expletive deleted] you up,” according to police reports.
The victim was eventually able to grab the knife and throw it outside his residence. Machen then left the residence in a taxi and headed toward West Ocean City, according to police reports. The victim provided police with a description of Machen including what she was wearing at the time of the incident. A short time later, two Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputies located Machen walking on McAllister Rd. in Berlin and she was detained.
Machen allegedly told police she had knives before, but did not have one in her possession during the incident. When asked why the victim’s bike tire was slashed, she allegedly told police, “Well, he used to have one of my bikes and it’s no longer there.”
Based on the evidence and testimony, Machen was charged with first-degree assault and malicious destruction of property.