OCEAN CITY — Two local residents have been arrested on burglary and theft charges after allegedly breaking into their former place of employment and stealing money from a Keno machine and cash register.
Around 10 a.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to the Beer Barrels bar and package goods store at 137th Street to investigate a burglary that had occurred sometime earlier on Wednesday. The officer met with the store manager who told police as much as $500 was missing from the Keno machine drawer and another $200 was missing from the cash register. The store manager told police the business was locked at the close of the shift around 12:15 a.m. last Wednesday.
Around 1:45 a.m., the business’s surveillance video shows a suspect open the Keno drawer and empty its contents into a small bag. The surveillance footage shows the same suspect go to the cash register in the center of the business and empty its contents into a small bag.
Around 1:46 a.m., the suspect exited the business through a rear door after unlocking a deadbolt at the top of the door. The suspect did not attempt to unlock the deadbolt at the bottom of the door, which was typically left unlocked, according to the manager, suggesting the suspect had knowledge of the back door and its operations and perhaps the break-in and theft was an inside job.
In the surveillance footage, the suspect was wearing blue jeans, a long, blue hooded sweatshirt with white writing on the front, a ball cap, a mask over the suspect’s face, white gloves and dark-colored shoes. The OCPD investigating officer was able to determine the suspect was a female based on her mannerisms and the way she walked and carried herself during the incident.
After viewing the surveillance footage again, the manager told police he believed the suspect was a former employee, identified as Callee Pinkowski, 29, of Ocean City, who had been fired from Beach Barrels about a month and half earlier, but still had a key. The manager told police Pinkowski had been fired from the establishment for allegedly stealing money.
The manager also told police Pinkowski was dating an individual, identified as Sean Dempsey, 27, of Ocean City, who was also recently fired from Beach Barrels. The manager told police Pinkowski was now known to work at a restaurant in Fenwick Island.
Around 1:45 p.m. last Wednesday, OCPD officers found in a nearby restaurant’s dumpster a blue sweatshirt with white writing on the front and a ball cap with the name of the restaurant in Fenwick where Pinkowski was last working. Also found in the same dumpster was a pair of blue jeans and a white rubber glove. A restaurant employee also turned over to police a pair of Air Jordan shoes he had found in the dumpster near the jeans and rubber glove.
Footage from a surveillance camera mounted on the corner of the Crab Bag and pointed directly at the dumpster where the clothes, hat, shoes and glove were found allegedly showed a male suspect known to police as Dempsey and a female suspect later identified as Pinkowski throwing the clothes, hat, shoes and glove into the dumpster.
All of the evidence led OCPD officers to believe Pinkowski was the suspect who entered the Beach Barrels establishment after hours and stole money from the Keno drawer and the cash register. The surveillance footage showed the suspect had intimate knowledge of the establishment and how to gain access to the money in the Keno and cash drawers. In addition, the baseball-style cap found in the front pouch pocket of the sweatshirt found in the dumpster had the name of Pinkowski’s current employer on it.
Also, Dempsey was seen in surveillance footage assisting Pinkowski throwing away the clothes, hat and other items in the dumpster about six minutes after the break-in, which led police to believe he was aware of the break-in and was assisting Pinkowski in the attempted cover-up.
Both were charged with second- and fourth-degree burglary and theft. Pinkowski was later released on a $7,500 bond, while Dempsey was released on a $25,000 bond. Dempsey alleged involvement resulted this week in the re-opening of a first-degree burglary case in which he was convicted and sentenced in April 2016 to 15 years with all but 18 months suspended. If it is determined Dempsey’s involvement in the Beach Barrel’s break-in violated his parole conditions, he could be sent back in to serve the entire 15-year sentence. Dempsey was indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on 31 total counts for eight separate incidents over a period of a few months in 2015 including the break-ins of a downtown motel and a sandwich shop among others.
