Isolated Incident In OC?
Editor:
I believe one of the most difficult and unappreciated jobs is driving an Ocean City trash truck during the hot summer months. These drivers must maneuver balky vehicles in tight spots, empty dumpsters that are sometimes on an angle, and then backup with limited vision while not hitting any vehicles or pedestrians.
Unfortunately, I witnessed a situation where the trash truck was not being operated in the most efficient and effective manner. For at least 32 minutes the driver of a trash truck stopped his vehicle with the motor running in a driving lane. When I went to find out why the truck was not moving, I found dumpsters that had to be unloaded were being blocked by an illegally parked car. Once the police and a tow truck operator took the necessary action to remove the illegally parked vehicle, the driver then emptied the dumpster.
The way I see it, the driver should have continued with his route until he was notified by radio that the illegally park vehicle had been removed. Sitting in the traffic lane with the motor running for about 32 minutes is inefficient and not climate friendly in the hot summer months in Ocean City. Hopefully, this was an isolated incident and not the normal practice of the Ocean City trash operations when a dumpster to be emptied is blocked by an illegally parked vehicle.
Joseph H. Potter
Ocean City
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Why Suspend Sentence?
Editor:
There is that occasional article one reads when you finish and have to go back and read it again, assuming you must have missed something. For me that was the case in reading the cops and courts article about a suspended sentence for a kid arrested for carrying a concealed handgun, after supposedly having threatened people on the boardwalk that he would use it on them. That is not the part that caused me to go back and read it again — gun toting, nunchuck carrying, knife wielding stories on the Boardwalk and surrounding area are nothing new. What made me rub my eyes and shake my head was the fact that the kid got a suspended sentence. The article indicated he had served a few weeks in jail since the arrest but apparently the judicial system seems to think that is sufficient punishment for what anyone should consider serious crimes in our community.
So let’s look at this again. The guy was carrying a loaded Glock .40 caliber semi-auto handgun — a serious weapon with a high capacity magazine. More firepower than the cops even carry. Concealed, without a permit. But wait, it gets better. The gun was stolen. It was, by extension used to threaten people. And, the kid was wanted in another state on a warrant. But after all that, being charged with multiple firearms charges, he was given three years that were then suspended.
The question all of us residents of Ocean City have to ask is, “Are you kidding me?” What kind of message does this send to the bad guys — go ahead and carry a piece, if you get caught you’ll just get a slap on the wrist. Some of us are numb reading about the wild west show that is the Boardwalk after midnight.
Kudos to the OCPD, which does a great job in keeping a lid on things but it’s the second half of the process that week after week we read about people caught with dope, guns, knives, martial arts weapons, all while punching their girlfriends and smashing up cars. And the sentences handed out are a joke.
We don’t want a police state here by any means, but these courts need to send the message that we don’t stand for that here and if you bring weapons and drugs to OC, or get so drunk you smash up cars and people, you are going to pay dearly. Right now, it’s just the opposite.
Thank you for all you guys do covering Ocean City news.
Doug Durante
Ocean City