OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Police Department this week is seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspect or suspects wanted in connection to multiple vending machine thefts over the last several days.
Around 8:25 a.m. on Monday, Ocean City Police took a report for thefts from a total of eight Coca-Cola vending machines. The machines were located on several floors of the Dunes Manor Hotel at 28th Street. In all, roughly $1,300 in cash was stolen from the vending machines and approximately $8,000 in damages was reported.
According to a Coco-Cola representative, the machines were last serviced on February 23, but hotel guests began making complaints about the damaged machines between Saturday and Monday. The OCPD also reported another vending machine was broken into between 11 p.m. last Friday and 9:30 a.m. last Saturday at Coastal Highway near 33rd Street.
The bill collector was damaged with a pry tool, but the machine was not stocked and did not contain any cash. Due to the location of that machine in close proximity to the Dunes Manor, OCPD officers believe there is a strong likelihood that the two incidents were committed by the same suspect or suspects.
Unfortunately, no surveillance footage was captured during any of the vending machine theft and there is no information on a possible suspect at this time.
Anyone with information regarding the thefts is urged to contact OCDP Pfc. Kory Moerschel at [email protected].