WEST OCEAN CITY — A West Ocean City motorist was arrested on hit-and-run and other charges last weekend after allegedly striking another vehicle with his truck, careening through a fence and nearly hitting residences before crashing and fleeing the scene.
Around 5:30 p.m. last Saturday, a Maryland State Police trooper was patrolling in the area of Routes 611 and 707 in West Ocean City when he was waved down by a crowd of individuals on the side of the road and in a nearby residential neighborhood. According to police reports, the crowd told the trooper a black truck had just hit another vehicle, plowed through the privacy fence surrounding the South Point Village neighborhood and fled the scene.
The trooper was then approached by the driver of the vehicle struck initially in the collision. The victim, who was bleeding from his hand, told police he was driving eastbound on Route 707 when the black truck crossed over into his lane at a high rate of speed, struck the driver’s side of his vehicle, drove beyond the collision and straight through the eight-foot fence surrounding the South Point Village neighborhood.
Witnesses said the black truck then crashed back out through the neighborhood’s fence at a high rate of speed and fled the scene westbound on Route 707. The area where the truck first crashed through the fence is about 10 feet away from where the truck crashed through a second time as it fled the scene. In between, the truck nearly hit several residences with deep tire tracks all the way up to the cement pads and back porches.
Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies patrolling in the area pursued the black truck until the driver, later identified as Adam Winter, 39, of West Ocean City, abandoned the vehicle and attempted to flee the scene. A Worcester County Sheriff’s deputy apprehended Winter and took him into custody. According to police reports, an off-duty Baltimore County police officer in the area also witnessed Winter attempt to flee the scene before he was apprehended on foot.
Winter was taken to the Maryland State Police barrack in Berlin where he performed poorly on standardized sobriety tests and was subsequently charged with driving under the influence. According to police reports, Winter caused damage to property belonging to the South Point Village condominium association as well as private property. During the incident, he drove through the fence surrounding the neighborhood and through multiple backyards before coming back out through the fence in a different area. In the process, he damaged the fence, a heating and air conditioning unit, outdoor tables and chairs and a gas grill. He was ultimately charged with DUI, malicious destruction of property, attempting to elude police, failure to remain at the scene of an accident, reckless driving and negligent driving.
