First-Degree Assault Charge For Choking
OCEAN CITY — A Pocomoke man was arrested on first-degree assault charges this week after allegedly striking and choking his girlfriend at an Ocean City residence.
Around 8:10 a.m. on Monday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a residence on Caroline Street for a reported assault that had already occurred. Officers met with a female victim who said she had been in an altercation with her boyfriend, later identified as Breonte Shrieves, 23, of Pocomoke, about an hour earlier.
The victim told police she and Shrieves and been having fights and arguments off and on over the last few weeks, according to police reports. Shrieves had been staying with the victim up until Sunday when she reportedly called him and told him not to come home and to pick up his personal property the next day.
The victim told police she heard Shrieves enter her residence around midnight on Monday and that she had locked herself in her room and believed he had slept on the couch. Between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., Shrieves began banging on the victim’s door and when she opened it, he allegedly barged in, pushed her down and grabbed her cell phone, smashing it on the ground.
According to police reports, Shrieves then pinned the victim to the bed and choked her with a collapsible baton, holding it against her throat. When the baton came apart, Shrieves reportedly then began choking the victim with his bare hand. The victim told police Shrieves then threw her to the floor and kicked her in the abdomen several times before striking her in the head with a closed fist.
The victim told police she never lost consciousness during the incident, but reported a separate choking incident a week earlier. According to police reports, the victim had bruising on her neck consistent with choking along with bruising on her arms, leg, shoulder blade and behind her ear.
Shrieves was located a short time later at a hotel where he works and was taken into custody. According to police reports, he had several cuts and scrapes on his hand, which he told police were from moving furniture as part of his job. Based on the evidence and victim testimony, Shrieves was charged with first- and second-degree assault and malicious destruction of property for destroying the cell phone.
x
Five Charged In Surrey Theft
OCEAN CITY — Five people were arrested on felony theft charges this week after allegedly swiping a four-wheeled surrey from a downtown bike rental business and riding it up the Boardwalk.
Around 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Ocean City Police Communications received a call from a downtown bike rental business owner on 1st Street reporting a theft that had just occurred. The victim told police he was talking to a customer when a witness yelled out to him that five individuals stole a five-seat, four-wheeled surrey.
According to police reports, the City Watch surveillance system captured images of the five suspects riding north on the Boardwalk and were now in the area of 12th Street. Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers caught up with the suspects at 12th Street. They were identified as Antonio Coyne, 21, of Culpeper, Va., Tiarah Sharp, 22, of Sterling, Va., Asiah Fields, 19, of Manassas, Va., Tavaras Eberhardt, 21, of Manassas; and Timothy Fields, 20, of Gwynn Oak, Md.
One of the suspects told officers they observed the bike rental sign on the surrey, but rode away on it anyway. All of the suspects were placed under arrest for theft from $1,000 to under $25,000. The business owners came to the scene and identified his property, which was valued at $2,500. Coyne was also charged with possession of CDS after a bag containing Xanax and Percocet pills was found on his person without a prescription during a search incident to the theft arrest.
x
Hotel Burglar Sentenced
OCEAN CITY — A resort homeless man, charged in November after video surveillance allegedly revealed him as the suspect in a hotel room break-in, pleaded guilty to burglary last week and was sentenced to two years, all but about six months of which was suspended.
Around 7 a.m. last Nov. 15, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a hotel at 5th Street and the Boardwalk for a reported burglary. The officer met with a victim who told police an unknown suspect had entered his hotel room while he was sleeping and had stolen a cell phone valued at around $700, a Play Station game, a Bluetooth speaker, a sweater and a wallet containing around $80 in cash along with bank cards and identification. The suspect told the officer his hotel room door was closed, but had not locked.
Video surveillance from a camera in the hallway revealed a suspect exit the victim’s room and enter a different room on the same floor. The surveillance video showed the suspect enter the room around 1:25 a.m. with what appeared to be a wallet and cell phone in his hand. The same video surveillance showed the suspect leaving the room about an hour later carrying a sweater matching the description provided by the victim.
The suspect then got on an elevator and left the area. OCPD officers met with hotel staff and learned an occupant of the room where the suspect had entered and left hours earlier had reported finding a cell phone in her room matching the description provided by the victim. The occupant also reported finding a Bluetooth speaker in her room and did not know how either piece of property got there.
Later the same day, OCPD officers were able to identify the suspect in the video surveillance footage as Aaron McCargo, 28, of no fixed address, with whom they were familiar from other encounters. In the meantime, the victim was able to contact his cell phone service provider, which was able to locate the victim’s cell phone through a ping at a hotel on 54th Street.
The victim went to the 54th Street hotel and met with the manager, who reported a woman had turned his phone in after reportedly finding it in a public area of the hotel. OCPD officers responded to the area and located McCargo in the area of 53rd Street. He was positively identified as the suspect seen entering and exiting the victim’s room at the hotel back on 5th Street. McCargo was found wearing the sweater reported stolen by the victim.
Last week, McCargo pleaded guilty to fourth-degree burglary and was sentenced to two years, all but 137 days of which, or the time he spent in jail awaiting trial, was then suspended.
x
Jail For Indecent Exposure
OCEAN CITY — A local man, arrested in January after a mid-day series of events during which he allegedly took off his pants and defecated, pleaded guilty last week to indecent exposure and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Around noon on Jan. 18, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were dispatched to an uptown shopping center at 118th Street for a reportedly naked and disorderly male in the parking lot. An employee of a massage business had called police and reported the male, later identified as Willard Sharp, 65, of Ocean City, had been acting erratically and had taken off his clothes.
When OCPD officers arrived, they found Sharp sitting on a picnic table in front of a restaurant wearing a brown jacket but no pants, which were later found balled up on the ground near him. According to police reports, Sharp was facing the storefront window of the restaurant and had his hand in his lap, allegedly moving it back and forth in a quick motion. There were around 20 customer vehicles parked in the immediate area and when the officers arrived, according to police reports.
OCPD officers approached Sharp and instructed him to put his pants on, a task he struggled with, according to police reports. Once his pants were secured, Sharp was taken into custody. Once Sharp was in custody, the officers noticed he had a red liquid running down his chin and the front of his shirt.
When the officers asked if Sharp was bleeding or if he had been drinking something red, Sharp reportedly admitted he had been drinking. According to police reports, there were five empty or partially filled red wine bottles in the garden near Sharp’s location along with an unopened red wine bottle in his jacket pocket.
OCPD officers interviewed the original complainant, who advised she had first noticed Sharp sleeping on the picnic table when she arrived for work around 9:45 a.m. The witness told police around 11 a.m., she noticed Sharp was sitting up and moving around. It was about that time that Sharp allegedly took his pants off and he reportedly stood in front of her business while exposed.
The witness said Sharp then squatted down and appeared to defecate near the restaurant adjacent to her business. He was ultimately charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and littering. Last week, he pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
x
Hotel Assault Nets Jail Time
OCEAN CITY – After pleading guilty, a Philadelphia man was sentenced to 18 months, all but three days of which were suspended, for assaulting his girlfriend.
Around 3:45 a.m. on October 27, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a hotel on 33rd Street for a reported domestic assault that had already occurred. The officer arrived and met with a female victim who had redness and swelling on her face along with dried blood on her nose and clothes. The victim told police she was at the hotel with her boyfriend, identified as Christian Choseed, 38, of Philadelphia, and that Choseed had fallen asleep around 1 a.m.
The victim told police she then went to visit a friend staying in the same hotel. Around 3:30 a.m., Choseed began banging violently on the hotel door of the unit in which the victim was visiting her friend. According to police reports, the victim opened the door and invited Choseed in, at which point he struck her in the face with an open-hand slap.
According to police reports, Choseed then pulled the victim into the bathroom by her hair and struck her in the nose with a closed fist. Choseed then reportedly grabbed a glass bottle from the bathroom counter and smashed it on the floor. Finally, Choseed again grabbed the victim by the hair and punched her in the stomach with a closed fist before leaving the room, according to police reports.
On Monday, Choseed pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 18 months, all but three days of which were then suspended. He was also placed on supervised probation for two years.