Cops And Courts – February 15, 2019

Cops And Courts – February 15, 2019

Standoff In Domestic Incident

OCEAN CITY — A local man was arrested on assault charges last week after allegedly kicking a female victim down a flight of stairs during a domestic incident.

Around 9:30 p.m. last Wednesday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a residence on Newport Bay Drive for a reported domestic incident. The officers responded to a 911 call from a female victim who reportedly said she feared for her life and that a male suspect, later identified as Michael March, 56, of Ocean City, had locked her out of her residence.

OCPD officers responded to the residence and March would not open the door, but would only speak to police through a second-floor window. When the officers asked to speak to the female victim, whom they knew from prior domestic incidents, March would only bring her to the same second-floor window. According to police reports, while officers were speaking with the victim, she would look back at March and it appeared she would only respond to the officers with what March relayed to her.

After about 20 minutes, March allowed the victim to come outside and talk to police. According to police reports, the victim told officers she feared for her safety, and that if she opened the door for the police that he would kill her. After some discussion, the victim told police she wanted to go back inside the residence for the night.

However, when she tried to re-enter the residence, the door was locked and March would not answer nor would he let her back in. Throughout the incident, March only communicated with police via his lawyer fielding phone calls and relaying information from inside the residence.

Because the victim had legal standing in the residence, OCPD officer requested Ocean City Communications contact a locksmith to respond and get the victim back in her residence. The locksmith responded and was able to gain access to the residence. The victim elected to stay in the residence for the night despite multiple attempts by officers on the scene to find her different accommodations for the night. By then, the victim and the responding officers had been outside at the scene for over three hours, according to police reports.

After the victim was back in the residence, the officers prepared to leave the scene when they heard a loud scream stating, “help me, help me,” according to police reports. An OCPD officer observed through the front door March standing over victim and kicking her down the stairs. All OCPD officers on the scene then entered the residence and located March on the second floor. He was arrested for second-degree assault.

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Midtown Hotel Tirade Arrest

OCEAN CITY — A Washington, D.C. woman was arrested on assault and other charges last weekend after an alleged incident at a midtown hotel.

Around 10: 30 p.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were dispatched to a hotel at 66th Street for reported domestic dispute. The officers arrived and entered the lobby where they met a male who said he had met the female suspect, later identified as Lakwanda Williams, 25, of Washington, D.C., a few days earlier, and when she learned he was planning a trip to Ocean City, she asked him for a ride to the resort so she could stay with friends.

According to police reports, the man agreed to give Williams a ride to Ocean City, but once in the resort, she could not locate her friends. Williams reportedly asked the male if she could stay with him instead and he reluctantly agreed, according to police reports. The male told police Williams had become intoxicated and that he had gone downstairs to the lobby to rent a second room so he did not have to be in the same room with her.

The man told police while he was talking to the front desk staff, Williams came down and started yelling at him. Williams reportedly then went into a restaurant attached to the hotel and began to berate an employee. According to police reports, the employee, a server at the restaurant, told officers Williams made comments to him including he should be a stripper and urged him to get naked for her.

When the employee did not respond to her comments, Williams became angry and threw her drink at him. A female employee attempted to intervene and told Williams she had to leave the establishment, according to police reports. After some back and forth between Williams and the female employee, Williams allegedly “flicked” the female employee in the nose and pushed her.

The female employee was able to get Williams out of the restaurant, which is when the police arrived. OCPD officers spoke with the front desk staff who told police they wanted to issue a trespass warning to Williams, forcing her to leave the premises. According to police reports, that only angered Williams more and she launched into an expletive-laced tirade.

OCPD officers reportedly told Williams she had to stop shouting or she would be arrested, but she continued to scream loudly. Around that time, a crowd of people getting off a tour bus and more people in and around the lobby stopped what they were doing and watched the scene unfold. Williams was ultimately arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

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Super Bowl Night Assault

OCEAN CITY — A Salisbury man was arrested on first-degree assault and other charges last week after allegedly threatening a female victim with a knife and threatening to throw himself and the victim off a hotel balcony.

Early in the morning on Feb. 4, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a reported domestic incident at a hotel at 21st Street. Ocean City Communications advised the officers hotel guests had reported a woman running toward an elevator and screaming for help. Front desk staff went to the suspected unit on the 12th floor and heard a man and woman arguing, according to police reports.

OCPD officers arrived and interviewed the female victim. The victim said she and her alleged assailant, later identified as Shawn Flynn, 54, of Salisbury, had been consuming alcohol throughout the night to celebrate the Super Bowl and began arguing around 11:30 p.m. By 2:30 a.m., the verbal argument escalated when Flynn allegedly produced a knife and began waving it around, almost striking the victim, according to police reports.

When the victim attempted to use the hotel phone to call for help, Flynn slapped the hotel phone from the victim’s grasp and cut the cord with the knife. When the victim grabbed her cell phone from the night stand, Flynn allegedly grabbed it from her and threw it on a table in the room. According to police reports, Flynn told the victim he would throw himself and her off the balcony, which is when the victim “started to fear for my life,” according to police reports.

When the victim attempted to leave the room, Flynn reportedly blocked the door and would not let her exit. The victim did eventually get out of the room and attempted to get to the elevators, but Flynn reportedly followed and grabbed the victim by the hair and arms and dragged her back into the hotel room.

According to police reports, the victim had bruises on her arm consistent with her story. Officers also located her damaged cell phone and the knife Flynn allegedly wielded during the altercation. OCPD officers also observed that the hotel phone cord had been cut with a knife. Based on all of the evidence and testimony, Flynn was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault and malicious destruction of property.

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Assault, Drug Arrest

OCEAN CITY — A Snow Hill man was arrested on assault and drug charges last week after an alleged incident at a midtown condo during which a female victim called 911 and reported someone was trying to kill her.

Around 4 p.m. last Sunday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was responded to a midtown condo for a reported 911 call hang-up. Ocean City Communications reported a female called 911 and said someone was trying to kill he before hanging up. Ocean City Communications was able to re-establish contact with the female, who continued to yell “please get the police,” according to reports.

OCPD officers arrived on scene and made contact with the juvenile female. Officers entered the unit and detected the strong odor of burning marijuana. The officers also observed broken glass, a smashed flat-screen television and other broken items throughout the unit.

The victim told police the suspect, later identified as Ryan Waters, 26, of Snow Hill, had become aggressive and violent with her, but that she did not know his current whereabouts. OCPD officers did a protective sweep of the unit to make sure Waters was not still inside. During the search, officers observed what appeared to be powder cocaine on the nightstand in one of the bedrooms. Also located in the unit was a collection of unidentified pills along with what appeared to be an unusual number of credit cards and gift cards, according to police reports.

OCPD officers interviewed the victim, who reported Waters had grabbed her and shook her and also threw glass vases at her head in an attempt “to kill her,” according to police reports. A description of Waters was broadcast and he was located a short time later walking away from the condo building. Waters was detained and told police he was staying in the unit with the victim and admitted some glass had been broken and there was some marijuana in the unit, but denied much of the rest of the victim’s story.

Meanwhile, during a search incident to his arrest, his cell phone rang identifying the caller as “old white guy,” according to police reports. The text message from “old white guy” reportedly said “can you bring 120?” OCPD officers knew from their training those who sell or purchase drugs often save contacts under fictitious names and that 120 was street slang for an amount of cocaine available for purchase.

A search warrant was executed on the condo, resulting in the recovery of multiple babs of a white, powdery substance, multiple cut plastic straws containing a white powdery substance. A digital scale containing a powdery substance and suspected marijuana. Waters was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and possession of cocaine.