Pedestrian Struck In Crosswalk
OCEAN CITY — An unidentified pedestrian was airlifted to the hospital Monday evening after being struck in a crosswalk by an allegedly impaired driver on Coastal Highway.
Just before 9 p.m. on Monday, an unidentified pedestrian was crossing Coastal Highway in a marked crosswalk at 67th Street and was struck by an alleged drunk-driver. The driver, identified as Scott Baum, 38, of Dillsburg, Pa., was attempting to make a left turn from 67th Street onto southbound Coastal Highway when he struck the pedestrian.
The pedestrian was taken by Maryland State Police helicopter to Peninsula Regional Medical Center with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Baum was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, driving while impaired, driving while impaired with a minor in the vehicle, failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk and negligent driving.
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Intoxicated Boater Detained After Chase
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man faces numerous state and federal charges after Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) caught him fleeing the Coast Guard in the back bays behind Ocean City late last month.
On June 29, two NRP patrol vessels answered a call for assistance from the Coast Guard after a vessel operated by Anthony Campisi, 58, of Lansdale, Pa., sped away from the federal authorities attempting to board it. According to police reports, Campisi’s vessel was traveling roughly 35 knots northbound in the Assawoman Bay before NRP vessels caught up to it.
NRP officers boarded the vessel and detained Campisi, who was uncooperative, according to police reports. He was charged by NRP with operating a vessel under the influence, negligent operation of a vessel and failing to yield to law enforcement. For those charges, he faces a maximum of 14 months in jail and $2,500 in fines. He also faces federal charges from the Coast Guard.
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Passed Out In Stranger’s Vehicle
OCEAN CITY — A New York man was arrested on disorderly intoxication and other charges last weekend after allegedly passing out in the back of a stranger’s vehicle.
Just after midnight last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of 53rd Street and Coastal Highway to check on the welfare of an individual. The officer arrived and met with the caller, who informed police an individual later identified as Michael Klimkiewicz, 23, of Ridgewood, N.Y., whom he did not know, was sleeping in the back of his vehicle, a Hyundai Tuscon.
The officer approached the vehicle and immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle and Klimkiewicz’s person. Klimkiewicz was sleeping in the vehicle with both the driver’s side and passenger’s side doors open.
According to police reports, the officer advised the suspect he was sleeping in a vehicle that did not belong to him and he appeared to be surprised. Instead, Klimkiewicz told police he believed he was sleeping in his friend’s Jeep. When asked where he was staying, the suspect told police he was staying up north somewhere around 94th Street.
The officer asked Klimkiewicz if he could provide more information about where he was staying, but the suspect could not provide the name of a condo building or hotel, according to police reports. When asked if he had a cell phone so the officer could call one of his friends, Klimkiewicz told police he did not have a phone, nor did he know any of his friend’s phone numbers.
According to police reports, Klimkiewicz exhibited signs of intoxication and did not know where he was. The officer determined he could not be released because he had gained access to another person’s vehicle without permission, did not know where he was, did not know where he was going and did not have a plan to get there if he did. As a result, he was arrested and charged with disorderly intoxication.
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Couple Causes Uptown Ruckus
OCEAN CITY — A local woman was arrested on assault and disorderly conduct charges last week after allegedly causing a ruckus on a public street during a domestic altercation.
Around 12:20 a.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of Jamaica Avenue for a reported disorderly individual. Ocean City Communications advised the responding officer a woman identified as Theresa Vorsteg, 42, of Ocean City, had called and reported a male individual attempting to get into her unit. Ocean City Communications also received a second call from a concerned citizen who reported Vorsteg had punched and kicked the male individual.
The responding officer spoke with the second caller, who reported being “startled awake,” by Vorsteg and the incident unfolding outside her unit. The witness told police Vorsteg was yelling and cussing outside in the parking lot and was also observed through a window punching the male individual in the face two times and kicking him in the leg.
The OCPD officer arrived on the scene and reported hearing Vorsteg yelling and cussing from at least 60 feet away. The officer met with the male individual who reported he and Vorsteg were a couple and that they had been having a verbal argument when Vorsteg “got emotional and punched me in the face with keys in her hand,” according to police reports.
The officer observed the male victim had a cut on the bridge of his nose at his eye level along with swelling and redness on his cheek and above his left eye. The officer spoke with Vorsteg, who said the couple was having a verbal argument because she found out he was cheating and that they had only pushed each other. Vorsteg was ultimately arrested and charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct and a noise violation.
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Indecent Exposure Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A Towson man was arrested on indecent exposure and other charges last week after allegedly bumbling around and peeing on the sidewalk outside a downtown bayfront bar.
Around 1:25 a.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was patrolling the area of 21st Street before being dispatched to a bayfront bar to assist with a disorderly individual. Upon arrival, the officer encountered Joseph Rogers, 21, of Towson, attempting to order a taxicab.
Rogers did not have any money and did not know where he was supposed to be staying in Ocean City. According to police reports, he exhibited signs of intoxication. Rogers told the officer he did not require any police assistance and began walking east toward Philadelphia Avenue.
The officer observed Rogers hold onto a nearby taxicab minivan to keep his balance. He then pulled down his shorts and begin urinating on the public sidewalk. Two females leaving the establishment observed Rogers and had looks of disgust on their faces, according to police reports. Rogers was then arrested and charged with indecent exposure, intoxicated endangerment and causing a disturbance while intoxicated in a public place.
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Loaded Handgun Found
OCEAN CITY — Two Baltimore men were arrested on weapons charges last weekend after a loaded handgun was found while they were sleeping in a vehicle.
Around 7 a.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of 6th Street and Philadelphia Avenue and two men sleeping in a vehicle on a public street in violation of a town ordinance. The two men, identified as Desmond Butler, 21, and Day On Geter, 20, both of Baltimore, were lying all the way back with the front driver’s seat and front passenger seat reclined.
The officers could only observe the suspect through the windshield because of the heavy tinting on the other windows. The officers knocked on the vehicle’s windows for about 30 seconds before the driver, Butler, rolled down the window about six inches, according to police reports. Geter, the passenger, was still sleeping.
Once Geter was awake, he made furtive movements as if to conceal something under his seat, according to police reports. Both suspects were asked to get out of the vehicle and a frisk of each revealed no weapons or other contraband. However, during a search of the vehicle, a strong odor of raw marijuana was detected. The officers unlocked the glove compartment and located a semi-automatic .40 caliber handgun loaded with nine rounds including one in the chamber. Because neither of the two suspects admitted ownership of the handgun, each was arrested and charged with having a loaded handgun in a vehicle.
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Guilty Plea In Garage Melee
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man, arrested last month on assault and other charges after allegedly punching people in an uptown parking garage, pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to two years, all but one day suspended.
Around 10:25 p.m. on June 8, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a hotel parking garage at 91st Street for a report of a disorderly male assaulting individuals. Upon arrival, officers observed two men holding down a suspect later identified as Garrison Markey, 19, of York, Pa., who was screaming obscenities as he attempted to stand up.
OCPD officers also observed a female crying nearby. According to police reports, Markey exhibited signs of intoxication. OCPD officers interviewed one of the male victims who told police he walked out to his vehicle to go to dinner with members of his group and observed Markey allegedly pulling at his vehicle’s door repeatedly.
The victim told police Markey then began hitting the vehicle several times with overhand punches. During the course of the investigation, it was determined Markey hit the female victim with an open hand, pushed one male victim, causing him to call to the ground, and punched another male victim in face, causing a cut to the bridge of his nose.
By then, a crowd had gathered to watch the incident while Markey continued to yell expletives at the police officers. Markey was ultimately arrested and charged with intoxicated endangerment, three counts of assault and disorderly conduct.