Cops And Courts – March 1, 2019

Cops And Courts – March 1, 2019

Blacked Out At Bank

OCEAN CITY — A Glen Burnie man was arrested for malicious destruction of property last weekend after allegedly damaging a vehicle in a bar parking lot.

Around 1:20 a.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched for a report malicious destruction of property incident that had just occurred. The officer met with bar security personnel who reported an intoxicated individual had bent back a windshield wiper on a Lincoln Navigator in the parking lot.

The suspect left the scene, but bar staffers followed him and told police he was standing at a bank branch about three blocks away. The OCPD officer responded to the bank branch and found the suspect, later identified as Christopher Hartman, 47, of Glen Burnie, bent over at the waist and leaning on a stone ledge near the ATM machine. According to police reports, Hartman was allegedly passed out and snoring while standing up near the bank.

OCPD officer roused Hartman and asked him how he came to be passed out at the bank. According to police reports, Hartman told officers he was in town for a bachelor party. When asked about the damage to the vehicle, Hartman told the officers it wasn’t him and they had the wrong guy, according to police reports.

OCPD met up again with bar security, who provided video surveillance footage of Hartman allegedly bending back the windshield wiper of the Lincoln Navigator in the parking lot. The footage also showed Hartman stumbling away from the parking lot before he was trailed by bar staffers to the bank. Hartman was arrested and charged with malicious destruction of property.

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Scrap Outside Bar

OCEAN CITY — An Ocean Pines man was arrested on assault and disorderly conduct charges last weekend after allegedly scrapping with a bartender outside a downtown nightclub.

Around 12:30 a.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of a nightclub at 33rd Street for a report of three disorderly males. When the officer arrived, he observed bar staffers escorting a suspect later identified as Andrew Stevenson, 29, of Ocean Pines, out of the establishment.

According to police reports, once outside of the bar, Stevenson stepped off the curb and into the roadway where he assumed a fighting posture against bar staffers with his fists raised and continued shouting. As the OCPD officer exited his vehicle and began to intercede, Stevenson allegedly lunged at a bartender, punching him in the chest and shoulder while some in the crowd screamed and others tried to separate the two men. Stevenson was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

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Child’s Hand Slammed In Door

OCEAN CITY — A Pasadena man was arrested on assault charges last week after allegedly slamming his teenage daughter’s hand in a hotel room door because she was supposed to be watching her younger sister.

Around 10:30 p.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a hotel at 16th Street to assist Ocean City EMS with an individual who had her hand shut in a door jam. According to police reports, the teenage girl was in pain and was bleeding profusely from her right hand while crying out “help me, help me,” and “Am I going to die?”

While Ocean City EMS was treating the victim, the OCPD officer spoke with the victim’s younger sister, who reportedly told police her father, later identified as Daniel Calvert, 42, had slammed her sister’s hand in the hotel door. The younger girl reportedly told police Calvert had been arguing with her older sister and that he had slammed the door on her sister’s hand.

OCPD officers met with Calvert, who told police he had been out on the Boardwalk with his wife when he learned the younger sister had been left alone in the hotel room. Calvert told police the older sister was supposed to be watching the younger girl while their parents were out. When he learned the younger girl had been left alone, Calvert went back to the hotel room and got into a verbal altercation with the older sister.

According to police reports, Calvert told the officer the older sibling was attempting to leave the hotel room during the argument when he closed the door to prevent her from leaving, which is when her hand accidentally got caught in the door. OCPD officers spoke with Calvert’s wife, who provided a similar story about what had occurred.

Calvert’s wife told police her husband became angry and she asked him to leave. When Calvert did leave, he attempted to take his teenaged daughter with him, which is when he slammed the victim’s hand in the door. OCPD officers interviewed the victim who essentially told a similar version of the incident.

The victim told police Calvert had become irate and threw luggage at her and threatened to punch her in the face during the argument. Based on the evidence and witness and victim testimony, Calvert was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.

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Parking Lot Assault

OCEAN CITY — A Dagsboro, Del. woman was arrested on assault charges last week after allegedly hitting her boyfriend in a parking lot and later kicking an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer.

Around 1:20 a.m. last Sunday, an OCPD officer was flagged down by a Seacrets bouncer who observed a female suspect allegedly strike a male victim in the face. The officer responded to the area and observed the suspect, later identified as Keyosha Johnson, 27, allegedly pull her arm back and strike a male victim in the face with a closed fist, according to police reports.

As the officer moved closer to the couple, he observed them kissing between two parked cars. The OCPD officer approached the couple and asked Johnson what had happened. According to police reports, Johnson told the officer everything was okay and that they had been arguing over something that happened inside the nightclub. Johnson also told police she just wanted to get her license and go home, according to police reports.

Other OCPD officers arrived on the scene and attempted to take Johnson into custody. According to police reports, Johnson resisted their attempts to handcuff her and launched into an expletive-laced tirade. When Johnson continued to struggle with police, an OCPD officer deployed his taser and pointed it at Johnson, yet she still resisted and refused to follow any of the officers’ commands.

One OCPD officer was finally able to get Johnson’s hands behind her back and handcuff her. Meanwhile, Johnson’s boyfriend implored the officers not to arrest her and continued to assert she had done nothing wrong. According to police reports, Johnson continued to resist and kicked one OCPD officer during the struggle.

At one point, she had to be detained with a violent person restraining device until she calmed down. Bar security provided video surveillance to the officers which revealed Johnson striking the male two times before police arrived and observed her punching him in the face. She was ultimately charged with two counts of second-degree assault.

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Cocaine Bust

OCEAN CITY – A Delaware man was arrested on drug charges last weekend after resort police were able to connect him to a suspicious incident at an uptown hotel.

Around 1:15 a.m. last Sunday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a hotel at 101st Street for a report of suspicious activity possibly involving drugs. The officer met with hotel staff who said a suspect later identified an Wendall Fosque, 40, of Dagsboro, Del. came into the hotel lobby with two other individuals and entered a restroom.

The employee said after Fosque and the other individuals came out, he went into the restroom and discovered a plastic baggie containing a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine on the back of a toilet. The employee told police Fosque and his companions left the hotel property in an Oldsmobile Alero.

The OCPD officer followed the vehicle as it went to Coastal Highway, cut through an uptown shopping center parking lot and returned to the hotel. The officer observed Fosque enter the hotel and come back out a few minutes later and drive away again. Meanwhile, another OCPD officer reported scanning the area where the Oldsmobile had been parked and finding plastic bags with suspected cocaine residue and paraphernalia near the spot.

A short time later, OCPD officers located the suspect vehicle in the area of 44th Street and a traffic stop was initiated. A K-9 search of the vehicle resulted in a positive alert for narcotics. Another OCPD officer located a plastic baggie of suspected cocaine in the street at 44th Street in the area of the traffic stop.

A search of the vehicle turned up more cocaine and marijuana according to police reports. Based on the evidence, Fosque was ultimately arrested and charged with possession of cocaine.

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Convenience Store Tirade

OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on disorderly conduct charges last week after allegedly screaming profanities inside a north-end convenience store.

Around 6:30 p.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a convenience store at 94th Street for a reportedly disorderly male. A witness in the parking lot told the officer the suspect, later identified as Jorge Farinhas, 40, of Northampton, Pa., had been shouting profanities.

The officer approached Farinhas as he left the store. According to police reports, Farinhas told police he had done nothing wrong and was only at the store to buy cigarettes and scratch-off lottery tickets. According to police reports, Farinhas became confrontational and shouted at the officer in the parking lot.

When a vehicle came into the store’s parking lot, Farinhas began shouting profanities at its occupants to the point they drove away. The officer spoke with the store employee, who reportedly told police Farinhas began shouting as soon as he got in the parking lot and continued his expletive-laced tirade inside the store.

According to police reports, Farinhas continued yelling to the point a female customer in line behind him ran out of the store and called police. He was ultimately arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and noise violations.

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Vehicle Punching Gets Probation, Restitution

OCEAN CITY — A Newark, Del. man, arrested in September after punching vehicles in a midtown nightclub parking lot, pleaded guilty this week to malicious destruction of property and was placed on probation and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.

Around 2:30 a.m. last Sept. 23, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to the area of 49th Street for a report of an individual punching the hood of a vehicle and causing damage to the vehicle. A witness told police the suspect, later identified as Charles Holmes, 37, left the scene in a truck along with a female companion who was reportedly driving and fled south on Coastal Highway.

A description of Holmes and his truck was broadcasted and the vehicle was located in a hotel parking lot at 43rd Street. Because there were conflicting reports of who was driving, the officer asked both Holmes and the female for the licenses and registration. Neither was able to produce a license and Holmes reportedly told police his license was on the internet.

Back at the scene, witnesses told police Holmes had punched the hood of a vehicle several times and then drove off, running over a curb and some bushes in the parking lot in the process. At that point, Holmes and the driver switched places and the female drove over a parking curb and some bushes.  On Monday, after the guilty plea, Holmes was also ordered to pay over $1,200 to the victim for the damage to the vehicle.