OCEAN CITY — Violence between Ocean City’s homeless escalated last week with a pair of alleged incidents involving the same suspects and victims.
Around 12:30 a.m. on April 30, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of North Division Street to assist Ocean City Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with a reported male individual lying on the ground. The investigation revealed the victim, known to police as Levin Martin, 34, of no fixed address, had been assaulted with a metal ball, roughly the size of a baseball and weighing several pounds, according to police reports. Martin was found with significant injuries to his face and was ultimately taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.
Levin Martin
OCPD officers interviewed multiple witnesses who told police they observed a suspect later identified as David Saylor, 55, of no fixed address, strike Martin in the face with the metal ball, drop the weapon and run away. One witness told police they observed Saylor tapping the metal ball on a guardrail as he walked along the north side of the Route 50 Bridge in what appeared to be an attempt to provoke a fight with Martin.
Yet another witness reported seeing Saylor holding the ball in his hand and yelling at another man, presumably Martin, but did not witness the altercation. That same witness told police he then saw a bloodied Martin lying by the Route 50 Bridge.
OCPD officers located a vehicle known to belong to Saylor through prior interactions about 20 feet away from where the alleged assault occurred. Also located in the area was a bicycle known to belong to Saylor. About four hours later, Saylor returned to the area to retrieve his vehicle and was taken into custody. OCPD officers had been searching for Saylor throughout the night to question him about the assault on Martin. Saylor was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault.
David Saylor
Around 1:30 a.m. last Saturday, four days after Saylor’s alleged assault on Martin, OCPD officers responded to another incident involving Saylor, Martin and a different known homeless man in the downtown area. In that incident, Martin was the suspect who allegedly assaulted and attempted to rob the other man.
According to police reports, Saylor approached an OCPD officer near a convenience store at North Division Street and reported to police Martin was allegedly assaulting another homeless man at Caroline Street. OCPD officers responded reportedly observed Martin standing over the victim. As OCPD officers approached, Martin attempted to walk away, but was grabbed by one of the officers, according to police reports.
During that interaction with police, one OCPD officer injured his ankle and had to be transported to the hospital. OCPD officers interviewed the victim, who told police he was sleeping under a blanket when Martin began kicking him at least three times in the ribs on his left side. The victim told officers Martin attempted to steal his bicycle immediately after the assault.
According to police reports, the victim was able to grab his bicycle and a tug-of-war of sorts began between he and Martin. When the bicycle fell to the ground, Martin allegedly jumped up and down it, causing significant damage to the bike. According to police reports, Martin allegedly made boastful statements including “yeah, I [expletive deleted] his bike up,” and “I [expletive deleted] it up,” without being questioned by police officers.
Based on the evidence and testimony, Martin was arrested and charged with assault, attempted robbery, attempted theft and malicious destruction of property.
