Burglary Suspect Flees On Foot
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man faces burglary and assault charges last weekend after allegedly barging through the door of a downtown apartment and shoving one of the occupants.
Around 10:45 p.m. last Sunday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were on patrol in the area of Wilmington Lane when they observed a group of 10-15 people gathered outside the front door of an apartment. The officers observed Austin Kupko, 18, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., loudly shouting at the residents of the apartment to let him in. The officers also heard the occupants of the apartment shout back for Kupko and his group to leave.
OCPD officers continued to observe as Kupko allegedly shouted expletives at the apartment’s occupants and shouted for them to come out and fight him. For a brief time, a female occupant of the apartment opened the door and shut it quickly. OCPD officers observed Kupko step up to the door and forcibly use his body to shove his way through the front door. Kupko then shoved an occupant inside the unit out of the way.
Occupants inside the unit and part of the larger group outside attempted to push and pull Kupko out of the unit and back into the street. The OCPD officers shouted at Kupko to stop and advised him he was under arrest, but he fled on foot. Kupkpo ran down Wilmington Lane and ran west across Philadelphia Avenue.
OCPD officers continued to yell to him to stop, but he kept running. He crossed through a parking lot and ran down Dayton Lane and into a construction site lot where he was cornered by three officers. Kupko was ultimately charged with burglary and assault.
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Smoking Violations
OCEAN CITY — A Utah man cited twice for smoking on the Boardwalk last weekend had malicious destruction of property charges tacked on after pulling up flowers to give to his girlfriend for picking him from jail.
Around 12:45 a.m. last Sunday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer on bike patrol on the Boardwalk near Caroline Street observed a man later identified as Nathan Morhman, 37, of Provo, Utah, smoking a cigarette in a no smoking area. The officer identified Morhman and told him to immediately desist smoking a cigarette on the Boardwalk and issued a citation.
About an hour later, the same OCPD officer observed Mohrman on the Boardwalk near North Division Street asking passersby for a light. The officer observed an individual offer a lighter to Morhman, who then lit a cigarette and began smoking again after being told not to on the Boardwalk an hour earlier.
At that point, Morhman was arrested for failure to obey an order of a police officer. Morhman was told to sit on the edge of a town-owned flower bed at the east end of North Division Street. The officer observed Mohrman reach behind him and uproot a marigold from the flower bed. He told police he intended to give it to his girlfriend when she picked him up from jail.
Morhman was charged with failure to obey a police order and malicious destruction of property for uprooting the city-owned marigold.
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Jail For Role In Near Riot
OCEAN CITY — A Delaware man, arrested in February after being identified as one of the main combatants in a near riot in the parking lot of an uptown Ocean City hotel, pleaded guilty last week to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 10 days
Around 2 a.m. on Feb. 11, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were dispatched to the Fenwick Inn parking lot at 138th Street for a report of several hundred disorderly individuals with numerous fights occurring. When OCPD officers arrived, roughly 100 individuals were observed in different areas of the parking lot with several verbal arguments taking place but no active fighting.
The OCPD had 16 officers on the scene and were being assisted by Maryland State Police troopers. While one OCPD officer was attempting to clear the south end of the parking lot, he observed a group of 8-10 people in a heated argument. As the officer approached the group, he observed Keith West, 32, of Millsboro, punching another unidentified man repeatedly with a closed fist.
According to police reports, a crowd had gathered around West and the other men and several people were attempting to pull them apart. The fight was attracting the attention of other groups in the vicinity and was inciting the crowd further. The OCPD officer approached the fray and told the combatants to stop fighting. When West did not comply, and continued punching the other man, the OCPD officer deployed his departmentally-issued FN303 less lethal launcher. The FN303 is an air-compression gun that fires non-lethal rounds and is commonly used by law enforcement for crowd control or dispersing riots.
West was struck once in the stomach with the projectile from the FN303, but did not stop fighting the other man. The OCPD officer then fired the FN303 two more times, striking West in the lower back. West eventually complied and was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and affray. Last week, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.
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90 Days For Bottle Assault
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man, arrested on assault charges in April after allegedly cracking another man over the head with a beer bottle, pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to 90 days.
Around 3:30 a.m. on April 29, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a convenience store at North Division Street for a reported assault that had already occurred. Upon arrival, OCPD officers met with a male victim who had blood pouring from lacerations on the left side of his head and shards of brown glass dropping off his clothing, according to police reports.
The victim told police Scott Bryant, 61, of Ocean City, with whom the OCPD is familiar from previous run-ins with law enforcement, had hit him in the head with a beer bottle at the comfort station at Caroline Street about 30 minutes earlier. OCPD officers responded to Caroline Street and the Boardwalk and found Bryant sleeping on a bench near the south side of the comfort station.
According to police reports, the OCPD officer also observed numerous drops and smears of blood all over the ground and a trail of blood leading away from the comfort station. The officer also observed multiple pieces of broken glass from a National Bohemian beer bottle on the ground and on the beach nearby.
The officer wakened Bryant, who initially denied anything other than drinking and sleeping. When questioned further, Bryant told police he had given the victim $10 to go to a nearby bar and buy a bottle of Bourbon whiskey. Bryant told the officers Tyler returned without the whiskey, but an empty liquor bottle of the type Bryant described earlier was on the bench nearby.
Bryant admitted getting into an altercation with the victim and that each combatant had “popped” the other. When questioned again about why there was broken glass and blood all over the ground, Bryant reportedly told police “I flipped and script it.”
When asked what he meant by that, Bryant told police he took the bottle from the victim and struck him in the head with it, using his military training, according to police reports. Last week, Bryant pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 90 days.