OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested on first-degree assault and other serious charges last weekend after allegedly beating another man and breaking his leg before stealing a 12-pack of beer.
Around 7:30 p.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of 13th Street and Philadelphia Avenue to assist with an injured male. When OCPD officers arrived, they observed a male lying on the sidewalk being treated by Ocean City EMS. OCPD officers observed a laceration and bruising above the victim’s eye and when EMTs were loading him into an ambulance for transportation to the hospital, officers observed a broken bone protruding from the victim’s leg.
The victim told police he had left a midtown bar and bought a 12-pack of Natural Light beer from a convenience before boarding a municipal bus. The victim told police he got off the bus at 14th Street and began walking home and that was the last thing he remembered before being surrounded by paramedics. According to police reports, officers noticed blood spots on the roadway along with a set of dentures. The victim told police the dentures belonged to him and that they must have been knocked out of his mouth when he was attacked.
OCPD officers interviewed a municipal bus driver who reported seeing the victim and another man, later identified as Walter Everett, 54, of Ocean City, interacting on his bus, first jokingly and then seriously. The bus driver told police the victim got on the bus around 26th Street and he and Everett had words about the victim giving him one of his beers. The bus driver said as the two men got off the bus at 14th Street, the victim said something to Everett to the effect “if you’re looking for trouble, just follow me,” according to police reports.
OCPD officers then went to Atlantic General Hospital to interview the victim to see what other details he could recall about the incident to no avail.
The next day, OCPD officers observed security footage of the incident recorded from a nearby apartment building on 13th Street. One angle of the footage showed the victim lying in the street with an unknown male walking around him and picking up items. A second camera showed the same suspect enter a unit in the apartment building. OCPD officers were able to determine the suspect entering the apartment was Everett, who was identified as a renter in the apartment.
On Saturday, police arrested Everett without incident. Based on all of the evidence, Everett was charged with first- and second-degree assault, robbery and theft. He was taken before a District Court Commissioner and was ordered to be held on a $25,000 bond.
