Gun Pulled During Altercation
OCEAN CITY — A West Virginia man was arrested on first-degree assault charges last week after allegedly pointing a loaded handgun and threatening to kill two other men during an altercation near a downtown motel.
Around 1:40 a.m. last Thursday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of 27th Street and Philadelphia Avenue for a report of a man with a handgun in his pocket. Upon arrival, OCPD officers met with a victim who told police a man had pointed a gun at him and then put the gun into his pants pocket.
As the victim was describing him, the alleged assailant, later identified as Johnnie Wayne Mills, 61, of Ranson, W.Va., emerged from behind a dumpster and was detained without incident. The OCPD officer detained Mills and located a loaded Springfield .40-caliber handgun on his person.
The victim told police he and another man were in the area of 27th Street and were engaged in a verbal altercation with Mills and Emerson Slick, 34, of Ranson, W.Va., who were on a second-floor motel balcony. The victim told police Slick went back into the unit and retrieved the handgun and came back out onto the balcony. According to police reports, Slick told officers he displayed the handgun to the victims to scare them off and then handed the gun to Mills.
Slick said Mills then went downstairs and engaged in a physical altercation with the victims. In a written statement, one of the alleged victims told police Mills pointed the gun at them and said he would shoot them, according to police reports. The victim also told police Mills had pointed the handgun at them from the second-floor balcony.
Based on the evidence and testimony, Mills was charged with first- and second-degree assault. Slick was also charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon and other weapons charges.
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Indecent On Boardwalk
OCEAN CITY — A Beltsville, Md. man was arrested on indecent exposure and drug possession charges last weekend after allegedly flashing families with young children on the Boardwalk.
Around 9:30 p.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) bicycle officer was patrolling the Boardwalk in the area of 3rd Street when he was approached by a female victim who reported a male suspect had just exposed his penis to her and her children. The victim told police she was walking on the Boardwalk with her four juvenile children along with her sister and her three juvenile children.
The victim told police a male walked up to them, lifted up his shirt and exposed his bare privates in front of her and her young children. The witness pointed to a group walking on the Boardwalk that included the suspect, later identified as Jose Melgar, 30, of Beltsville, Md. OCPD officers detained Melgar on the Boardwalk at 2nd Street and had him sit on a bench. The victim was brought over for a “show up” and positively identified Melgar as the suspect who had exposed himself to her family.
At that point, Melgar was arrested for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. A search of his person incident to the arrest revealed suspected cocaine in his pants pocket along with a $20 bill folded in such a way to snort the cocaine and drug possession charges were tacked on.
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Bus Stop Assault
OCEAN CITY — A Milford, Del. man was arrested on assault and theft charges last week after allegedly hitting a man near a bus stop and taking his cell phone.
Around 3 a.m. last Tuesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was patrolling in the area of Sunset Drive and Coastal Highway when he was approached by a man who ran up to the passenger side of his vehicle yelling and waving his arms. According to police reports, the victim was out of breath and appeared to be scared and between gasps told the officer he had just been attacked and that his assailants had fled north on the sidewalk. The victim provided descriptions of the assailants, one of whom was later identified as Emmanuel Beaucejour, 19, of Milford, Del.
Another OCPD officer arrived on the scene and stayed with the victim while the initial officer drove around to look for the suspects. A short time later, OCPD officers located three suspects matching the description on the corner at 32nd Street. When detained, Beaucejour and the other suspects said they had no idea why they had been stopped and that they hadn’t assaulted anyone.
Back at the scene, the victim told police he was standing near the bus stop at 28th Street when he was approached by Beaucejour and the other two men. He told police he had earphones on that were attached to his cell phone. The victim told police Beaucejour approached him and smiled, and when he looked away, Beaucejour allegedly struck him in the back of the head, causing him to fall into traffic in the bus lane.
The victim told police Beaucejour yelled at him to give up his stuff, which he assumed meant his cell phone and earphones. The victim told police he feared for his life and ran away from his assailants around the block until he arrived at the initial police officer’s vehicle.
The victim had red marks on his head and ears consistent with his story about being struck from behind by Beaucejour. According to police reports, the victim was brought over for a “show up” and positively identified Beaucejour as his assailant. The victim told police the other two men just stood there during the incident and did not say or do anything to him. Beaucejour was ultimately charged with second-degree assault, robbery and theft.
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Pipe Wielder Busted
OCEAN CITY — A LaPlata, Md. man was arrested on deadly weapon and burglary charges this week after allegedly wielding a large metal pipe and striking walls and vehicles and threatening others before hiding from police in a fire pump room at a hotel under construction.
Shortly after midnight on Monday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) bicycle officers were on patrol when they were dispatched to a hotel under construction at 16th Street for a report of a male suspect running around with a metal pipe in his hands. Ocean City Communications advised the responding officers Joseph Coulby, who had just turned 21, of LaPlata, was running around in the parking garage area of the hotel and swinging a large metal pipe, hitting walls and also going after vehicles.
OCPD officers arrived and found Coulby swinging the metal pipe, which measured around two feet long with a square metal head on it, making it look like a medieval mace, according to police reports. The officers later determined the pipe was a part of the scaffolding used in the construction of the hotel.
OCPD officers moved slowly toward Coulby and drew their Tasers in the event of an attack. The officers observed Coulby run around the corner and into a fire pump room at the hotel under construction. The door to the pump room was propped open slightly by a bucket and the officers could observe Coulby inside.
According to police reports, Coulby did not respond to repeated calls by police to drop the weapon and come out of the pump room. One officer approached opened the door and found Coulby standing inside with the pipe weapon by his side. When the officer directed his taser at Coulby’s mid-section, he dropped the weapon and was taken into custody without further incident.
Coulby agreed to speak with police and told the officers he did not come out of the pump room when ordered to do so because he thought the officers were his friends. He reportedly told police he picked up the pipe and was running around with it to use against his friend and his friend’s girlfriend, who had been chasing him. He was ultimately charged with carrying a deadly weapon, burglary and disorderly conduct.
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He Really Wanted In
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on malicious destruction of property and burglary charges last week after allegedly ripping out a screen to gain access to a downtown motel room.
Around 3 p.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of a motel on 2nd Street for a reported malicious destruction of property. The officer arrived and met with two witnesses who were still standing with the suspect, later identified as Lang Woytovich, 29, of Union Town, Pa.
One of the witnesses told police he heard Woytovich banging loudly on the motel room door and went to confront him. The witness said she observed a screen ripped off the front of the motel building and found Woytovich inside the unit. The witness told police she repeatedly told Woytovich to leave the room, but he did not do so. The witness told police she had never seen Woytovich around the motel before and he did not have permission to be in the unit.
The other witness told police he saw Woytovich violently trying to enter the room, kicking the door and punching it with a closed fist. The second witness also told police he saw Woytovich rip the screen off the front of the building and enter the room through the window from which the screen was removed. Woytovich was arrested and charged with burglary and malicious destruction of property.
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Jailed For Assault On Cops
OCEAN CITY — A Silver Spring woman, arrested in June on multiple assault charges on police officers after getting pulled over for suspected drunk-driving and causing a public disturbance, pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Around 11:55 p.m. on June 29, Ocean City Communications broadcasted a lookout for a suspected drunk driver after reports of a woman leaving a midtown nightclub and allegedly driving while intoxicated. Around 15 minutes later, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer observed a vehicle matching the description at a stop light at Convention Center Drive.
The officer pulled behind the vehicle and when the light turned green, it did not move for about 30 seconds, according to police reports. The officer pulled the vehicle over under a hotel at 40th Street. The officer made contact with the driver, identified as Julisa Ortiz, 31, of Silver Spring, Md., and observed signs of intoxication. According to police reports, Ortiz did consent to the horizontal gaze test, but refused to take any other field sobriety tests.
Based on the evidence and test results, Ortiz was taken into custody on suspicion of drunk-driving. When officers attempted to place her in handcuffs, she began to scream at the top of her lungs that she did not want to be raped and that she needed to urinate among other things. According to police reports, Ortiz’s actions caused a crowd to form around the scene including people coming out of their hotel rooms.
OCPD officers took Ortiz to the Public Safety Building for booking and she continued to refuse to cooperate. During the transport to the booking center, Ortiz allegedly kicked two officers including one who was driving. Once at the booking center, Ortiz was allowed to use the restroom, but refused and did not cooperate with booking personnel, allegedly kicking another OCPD officer in the chin. All in all, Ortiz was charged with three counts of assault on police officers, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and traffic charges related to the alleged drunk driving. Last week, she pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
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Sobriety Checkpoint Results
WEST OCEAN CITY — An allied law enforcement sobriety checkpoint on westbound Route 50 last weekend snarled traffic for over an hour and netted one arrest, although the arrest total went up during saturation patrols following the roadblock.
Late last Friday night and into Saturday morning, the Maryland State Police and allied law enforcement agencies conducted a sobriety checkpoint on westbound Route 50 near Silver Point Lane. During the roughly one-hour checkpoint, a total of 455 vehicles were stopped, resulting in four being pulled aside for field sobriety testing and just one arrest. However, at the conclusion of the checkpoint, a countywide saturation patrol was conducted, netting four more arrests for DUI.