Five-Year Sentence In Resort Armed Robbery
OCEAN CITY — A Gaithersburg man, arrested in May on armed robbery, first-degree assault and other charges after robbing three men of thousands of dollars in cash at gunpoint, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison with all but five years suspended.
Isaac Koroma, 19, of Gaithersburg, was sentenced last week to 10 years after being convicted of second-degree assault for his role in the May 25 armed robbery. Half of the sentence, or five years, was then suspended. Koroma was also placed on three years of supervised probation upon his release.
Shortly after midnight on May 25, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of 62nd Street and Coastal Highway for a reported robbery with a handgun. Upon arrival, OCPD officers met with a male victim who told police he and two of his friends had been robbed by three males roughly 10 minutes before their arrival.
The victim told police he and his friends had left a nearby bar and were walking back to their hotel when they were approached by three other men. The other three men told the eventual victims they were heading to a different bar and the three victims agreed to go along with them. The victim told police one of the suspects asked the group if anybody had change for a $100 bill.
The victims told police they did have change and the two groups went to an area of the parking lot at 59th Street complete the transaction. In the parking lot at 59th Street, one of the suspects produced a silver semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from the victims. The victims told police they were caught off guard and didn’t immediately comply with the orders given by the suspect with the handgun.
The victim told police the suspect then racked the gun and told them again to turn over their money. The suspects then took the money and wallets of two of the victims and told them if they moved, they would be shot, according to police reports. The victims told police the suspect was pointing the gun at them during the entire incident.
The suspects then fled the area on foot, heading north on Coastal Highway. The victims called 911 and then followed behind the suspects to see where they went. The victims told police the suspects had taken about $3,000 in cash combined from two of them, along with their wallets including credit cards.
The responding officers broadcast a description of the suspects and a short time later, another OCPD officer located two men matching the descriptions in the area of 60th Street and Coastal Highway. OCPD officers in the area attempted to detain the two suspects, but the split up and fled on foot. One of the suspects later identified as Koroma was found hiding under a parked car in the area of 72nd Street. The two other suspects in the incident were not identified or apprehended.
According to police reports, OCPD officers observed Koroma attempting to shove $100 bills into the frame of the car under which he was hiding. The victim was brought to the 72nd Street area to positively identify Koroma as the suspect who had robbed he and his friends at gunpoint. Koroma was arrested and transported to the Public Safety Building for processing.
During a search of his person, OCPD officers found him in possession of three $100 bills and one single. OCPD forensics processed the scene where Koroma had been located hiding under a vehicle. In the frame of the vehicle, OCPD forensic detectives found $1,190 in cash. In addition, OCPD detectives processed the parking lot where the original robbery had taken place and found one of the victims’ wallet.
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Stumbling Around Downtown
OCEAN CITY — A Berlin man was arrested on intoxicated endangerment charges last weekend after allegedly getting kicked out of a downtown bar and stumbling through traffic.
Around 2:15 a.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the downtown area observed a very intoxicated individual later identified as Kevin Delp, 37, of Berlin. On a previous call about two hours earlier, the officer had been waved down by staff at a bar on Wicomico Street and was informed Delp had been kicked out for allegedly attempting to cause problems with other patrons.
During the early encounter, Delp reportedly told police he had nowhere to stay in town and was just going to walk around. Having little or no evidence to detain Delp, police cleared the scene and Delp was free to leave, according to police reports.
However, about two hours later, the OCPD officer observed Delp allegedly stumbling around in the downtown area while yelling obscenities at no one in particular, according to police reports. The OCPD officer observed Delp in the area of 14th Street. According to police reports, Delp crossed into the travel lanes on Philadelphia Avenue, causing an SUV to slam on its brakes in order to avoid hitting him. At that point, Delp was arrested and charged with intoxicated endangerment.
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No Burglary Charges, But Weapons Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A Selbyville man was cleared of potential burglary charges last weekend, but was arrested anyway when a gun replica was allegedly found in his vehicle.
Around 8:20 p.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of 82nd Street for a reported burglary in progress. Officers responded to the scene and found the front door of the residence in question had been forced up with pry marks on the frame. Finding no one in the unit, the OCPD completed their investigation and cleared the scene.
A caller had reported a suspect later identified as Munther Salem, 32, of Selbyville, had been evicted from the property several weeks ago, but had been seen unloading furniture into a trailer. The caller told police he worked for the property owner and had allegedly seen Salem removing furniture and other belongings from the property.
OCPD officers encountered Salem in the parking lot and when asked why he was at the location, Salem told police he formerly rented the unit and was retrieving his property. When asked if he had broken into the unit, Salem admitted breaking the door down because the locks had been changed. However, it was later determined Salem had legal standing at the unit because the property owner had not gone to court and followed legal channels to formally evict him.
However, when police first arrived on the scene, they encountered Salem removing property from the unit and putting it in a trailer parked near the rear of the building. An OCPD officer asked Salem for identification and Salem reportedly told them they could retrieve it from the vehicle.
When officers went to the vehicle to retrieve Salem’s identification, they observed a black handgun in the center console that turned out to be a replica Daisy pellet gun. At that point, Salem was taken into custody for possession of a replica firearm within the corporate limits of Ocean City. When asked about the weapon, Salem reportedly told police he had been target shooting a few days earlier and neglected to remove it from the vehicle.