Driver Fined $640

Driver Fined $640
Social Issues Government1

OCEAN CITY — The driver in a video depicting a donut and burnout on Coastal Highway that went viral and became symbolic of some of the complaints associated with the spring Cruisin’ event pleaded guilty last week to negligent driving and a handful of other violations and was fined a total of $640.

Last May 16, a blue Chevrolet Corvette was caught on video pulling out onto Coastal Highway and doing a donut in the middle of the street before screeching down Coastal Highway at a high rate of speed with a plume of white smoke trailing behind in the midst of heavy traffic and numerous pedestrians and spectators lining the roadway. The incident was captured on video and was quickly distributed on social media as an example of the ill behavior demonstrated by many of those indirectly associated with the annual event throughout the weekend.

Ocean City Police initiated an investigation after the video surfaced online and quickly went viral. With the assistance of numerous tips from citizens regarding the incident, OCPD officers were able to identify the driver as Harry M. Huntsman, 25, of Millersville, Md. Huntsman was subsequently stopped in Ocean City on Sunday, May 30, or two weeks after the Crusin’ incident, for an additional traffic violation and was issued citations for the May 16 incident at that time.

Last Friday, Huntsman pleaded guilty to negligent driving in a careless and imprudent manner endangering property, life and person and was fined $500. He also pleaded guilty to spinning wheels and driving an unsafe vehicle with no hood and was fined $70 for each of those infractions, bringing his total fine to $640.

Six-Year Sentence In Child Porn Case

SALISBURY — A Salisbury man was sentenced in federal court this week to six years in prison for distribution of child pornography following a series of incidents in Worcester and Wicomico counties dating back to 2010.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett sentenced David C. Andrews, 52, of Salisbury, to six years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for distribution of child pornography. Bennett also ordered that Andrews must continue to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, works or goes to school. Andrews was already required to register as a sex offender after a prior conviction for possession of child pornography.

According to the plea agreement, between May 28 and June 12, 2010, Andrews made files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct available to others through a file-sharing program installed on his computer. In July 2010, a Wicomico County Sheriff’s deputy working on undercover investigations of individuals trafficking child porn was able to download pornography being shared through an Internet account at Andrews’ residence.

A search warrant was executed at the residence and law enforcement located Andrews’ computer, which contained 49 images and roughly 160 video segments of child pornography. Andrews later admitted he collected and shared child porn over the Internet, including the video obtained by the detective. In October 2011, Andrews pleaded guilty to distribution of child porn and sentencing was deferred.

The case against Andrews got stronger in May 2014 when a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office detective was conducting an online investigation into individuals using file-sharing software to distribute child pornography. During the investigation, the detective downloaded a video from Andrews’ computer that depicted a prepubescent girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Investigators determined the IP address associated with the account was assigned to Andrews’ residence.

In June 2014, Andrews saw law enforcement officers conducting surveillance and photographing his home in preparation for obtaining a search warrant.  Andrews admitted that on June 22, 2014, he ran memory-wiping software on the hard drive and reinstalled the operating system, thereby deleting any files or images, including any files containing child pornography from his laptop.

When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Andrews’ home on June 24, 2014, they were initially unable to find any devices belonging to Andrews or that appeared to be associated with child pornography.  After locating Andrews’ laptop in the laundry room, investigators realized the hard drive had been removed.

Andrews directed the investigators to a truck tire in the back yard of the uninhabited house next door where law enforcement recovered a gallon zip lock bag containing the hard drive from the laptop as well as a tablet computer.

Although a forensic examination of the laptop hard drive was unable to recover any images or files, a forensic analysis of the tablet recovered 142 images of child pornography. Andrews admitted that he attempted to delete the files in an attempt to conceal them from investigators.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein commended HSI in Baltimore and Ocean City, the Worcester County and Wicomico County Sheriff’s Offices, the Maryland State Police and the Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office for their roles in the investigation and prosecution of Andrews.

Biter Gets 10 Days

OCEAN CITY — A Pittsburgh man arrested in July after biting two bar employees and one OCPD officer before being Tased on his birthday pleaded guilty this week to two counts of second-degree assault and was sentenced to 90 days, all but 10 of which were suspended.

Around 2:05 a.m. on July 25, OCPD officers were in the area of Seacrets on 49th Street to assist with the bar’s closing. The bar’s security staff was escorting out a male individual, later identified as Craig Konzier, 24, who had refused to leave. As the bar security scrapped with Konzier in an attempt to get him to leave, Konzier allegedly bit one of the security officers in the left chin area, removing a chunk of flesh from his face, according to police reports.

According to the victim, Konzier bit his face for a full 10 to 15 seconds before releasing. Konzier then allegedly bit a bar staffer employed as an EMT on the right hip. According to police reports, roughly 10 bar staffers were attempting to hold Konzier on the ground until police arrived.

OCPD officers arrived and escorted Konzier down a ramp and told him to sit on the ground near the exit ramp, but Konzier did not comply. The officer made several attempts to get Konzier to comply before eventually kicking his legs out from under him, according to police reports. Konzier continued to resist arrest, even after being taken to the ground by OCPD officers.

According to police reports, Konzier then turned his head and bit an OCPD officer in the middle of his left thigh, breaking the skin and causing the officer to bleed. The officer then struck Konzier in the head and he continued to resist arrest and fight with the OCPD. Another officer then administered a drive stun with his Taser, which had no effect. The officer deployed his Taser a second and he still continued to resist.

Konzier was ultimately subdued by multiple officers while bar patrons leaving the establishment stopped to watch the incident. One OCPD officer was taken to AGH for treatment of the bite wounds in his left thigh. The two bar security personnel were treated on the scene by EMTs.

On Monday, Konzier pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, all but 10 of which were then suspended. He was also placed on probation for two years.

No New Jail Time For Phony Housekeeper

OCEAN CITY — A local homeless woman, arrested on burglary and weapons charges in September after entering an occupied rental property and acting as if she was part of the housekeeping crew, pleaded guilty last week to trespassing and was sentenced to 36 days, or the amount of time she was in custody awaiting trial.

Around 9:45 a.m. on  Sept. 14, an OCPD officer responded to the Madison House, a house rented by the Madison Beach Motel, for a report of a female who had entered the house and been asked to leave. Another OCPD officer located the suspect, later identified as Michelle Denise Rogers, 48, of no fixed address, in the parking lot of a convenience store nearby. Rogers told the officer she had entered the residence to use the bathroom and that she had permission.

The tenant told police her boyfriend allowed Rogers to use the bathroom and she left without incident, but returned a short time later. When she returned, she entered the residence through a rear door and began spraying air freshener throughout the house and acting as if she was a housekeeper.

The tenant told police Rogers began acting strangely, which is when the tenant went to the motel desk to complain. A short time later, police arrived and located Rogers. According to police reports, Rogers in homeless and living in Ocean City and had multiple encounters with the police throughout the summer. For example, Rogers had previously used the guise of being a housekeeper or member of a cleaning staff to gain access to public restrooms and stayed in the bathrooms for extended periods of time, panhandling in the bathrooms when guests arrived.

According to police reports, Rogers had also been contacted by the OCPD at the 144th Street Transit Station numerous times throughout the summer for sleeping on the benches and panhandling visitors.

According to police reports, Rogers was uncooperative with officers on the scene. For example, when she was asked where she lived, she told police she didn’t. When asked where she slept, she told police, “I don’t sleep, I work on my projects all night,” according to police reports. When asked where she worked, she reportedly told police she worked at the Laundromat on Coastal Highway doing laundry for hotels, but couldn’t identify which Laundromat.

Finally, the OCPD officer arrested Rogers for fourth-degree burglary, trespassing, and hindering an investigation by not providing an address where she could be reached and sent court papers. During a subsequent search, officers found a pointed metal nail file and a three-eighths-of-an-inch “spade blade” drill bit estimated at around seven inches long concealed in Rogers’ hair.

According to police reports, both of the objects were easily accessible to Rogers and were very sharp and fully capable of causing serious or fatal injuries to anyone who might be stabbed or slashed with them. Officers also located a one-inch-thick wooden stick estimated at around 28 inches and a metal pipe estimated to be 16 inches long and about a half-inch thick. According to police, the officer believed the items to be improvised impact weapons. The drill bit and nail file could also be used as burglary tools. Last week, Rogers pleaded guilty to trespassing and was sentenced to 36 days in jail. She was then given credit for the 36 days she spent in custody awaiting trial.

Jail Time For Fourth DUI In Two Weeks

SNOW HILL — An Ocean Pines man, arrested four times for driving under the influence in the span of 12 days in June, pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to one year in jail, six months of which was then suspended.

Around 11 p.m. on June 16, Ocean Pines Police arrested Mitchell Palmer Deasy, 57, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated on Ocean Parkway in the area of Sandyhook Road. Deasy was also charged during that incident with failure to stop when approached by police using signals, driving while impaired, negligent driving and failure to drive right of center. For Deasy, it was his fourth arrest on drunk-driving and other traffic charges in the span of 12 days.

Around 8:30 p.m. on June 5, Deasy was arrested on suspicion of drunk-driving and other traffic violations on Ocean Parkway at Route 589. About three hours later at 11:30 p.m., Deasy was arrested again for driving while intoxicated and other charges at Sloop Lane and Galley Lane in Ocean Pines.

Less than a week later, Deasy was again arrested by Ocean Pines Police on suspicion of driving while intoxicated around 7:15 a.m. in the area of Ocean Parkway and Sandyhook Road. His arrest in the same area on June 16 was his fourth in the span of 12 days. Last week, Deasy pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to one year in jail, six months of which was then suspended.