OCEAN CITY — A Delaware man was arrested on weapons charges last weekend after twice asking uniformed Ocean City Police where the party was while stopped at red lights.
Around 2:40 a.m. last Saturday, three Ocean City police officers were in their vehicle stopped at a red light at 49th Street when a red BMW pulled up next to them at the signal. The occupant in the passenger seat across from the police vehicle started a conversation with one of the officers. According to police reports, the passenger asked the OCPD detective where the party was and where the women were and the officer told the passenger 65th Street on the bayside, the location of the Public Safety Building and police headquarters.
The light turned green and traffic started moving again, but the OCPD vehicle and the red BMW were stopped again side by side at a red light at 52nd Street. Again, the passenger struck up a conversation with the officer and asked the officer if he was going to the party on 65th Street. The passenger said he and his friend were looking for girls and that they had “bottles and weed,” according to police reports.
The officer asked the passenger how much marijuana they had and the passenger said he and his friend had a little over two grams between them and did not have enough to sell. It’s important to note at this point while the officers were in an unmarked police vehicle, they were wearing modified uniforms including black tactical vests with the word “police” written in bold white letters on both the front and back.
When the BMW pulled ahead of the police vehicle, the officers noticed it had a license plate cover that obstructed the view of the license plate and a traffic stop was initiated. One detective walked up to the passenger side and another walked up to the driver’s side and made contact with the driver, identified as Liam Delucia, 18, of Hockessin, Del. According to police reports, the officers detected the odor of raw marijuana.
One of the detectives saw Delucia open the glove box and noticed a 30-round AR-15 magazine loaded with ammunition. The officer also noticed multiple rounds of loose ammunition in the glove box. In addition, the officers observed the handle of a Ka-Bar knife sticking out between the center console and the driver’s seat.
The officers asked Delucia if there were any other weapons in the vehicle and Delucia told them there was an AR-15 rifle in the trunk. Both Delucia and his passenger were removed from the vehicle and handcuffed while officers continued their investigation.
The officers recovered the knife near the center console that was found to be easily accessible for the driver. Police also seized the AR-15 rifle from the trunk along with the magazine and the loose ammunition from the glove compartment. Delucia was charged with possession of a concealed dangerous weapon, possession of an assault weapon and possession of a firearm by a minor.
