Local Hotel Worker Charged In Knife Threat
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested on first-degree assault and other charges last weekend after allegedly threatening a co-worker with a knife at a midtown hotel.
Around 6:15 p.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a hotel at 66th Street for a reported assault that had already occurred. The officer met with a female victim, who told police she had been threatened by a male co-worker, later identified as Nikolay Suhin, 40, of Ocean City, with a knife.
The victim told police she and Suhin were co-workers and were preparing a room in the hotel for an upcoming conference. The victim told police Suhin was upset because he had to work longer than he expected and was going to miss a class, according to police reports.
The victim told police Suhin went into the kitchen and she heard loud banging and screaming. When the victim went to the kitchen door, Suhin was banging on a table and screaming obscenities. The victim, still standing in the doorway, asked Suhin why he was upset and he reportedly told her he had missed a class because of her and asked her to leave him alone and leave, according to police reports.
At that point, Suhin began walking toward the victim and as Suhin got close to the victim, she observed he was holding a knife. According to police reports, the victim got within arm’s length of the victim and held the knife just inches from her neck.
The victim reportedly told police the weapon was a folding knife and not a knife that would be found in the hotel kitchen. She estimated the knife was five- to six-inches long.
The victim told police she was able to back away and ran to the conference center office where she called police. Meanwhile, Suhin returned to the front of the building and was taken into custody. Suhin told police he had gotten into a verbal argument with the victim because she had made him work later than expected, which caused him to miss a class.
According to police reports, Suhin said he was in the kitchen yelling and banging on a table out of frustration with the situation. Suhin reportedly told police the victim came into the kitchen doorway and that he yelled at her to leave because he was upset she had caused him to work later.
Suhin did tell police he approached the victim and got close to her neck region and yelled at her to leave. However, Suhin kept telling police different versions on the story. For example, he did tell police he possessed a knife like the one described by the victim, but that he kept it in the console of his vehicle and that is was nowhere near him during the incident.
OCPD officers retrieved the folding knife from Suhin’s vehicle. Suhin also told police when he approached the victim, he was carrying a wooden door stop and not a knife. Based on the investigation, Suhin was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault.
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Errant BB Shot Leads To Major Pot Bust
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested on marijuana distribution and gun replica charges last week after he and another local man allegedly shattered a neighbor’s sliding glass door window with BB guns, leading to a police investigation of their residence.
Around 7:30 p.m. last Tuesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) detective investigated a reported sliding glass door window being broken at a residence on 57th Street. The officer met with the owner who pointed to a shattered sliding glass door window. The officer observed the window had been struck by a small projectile, likely from a BB gun, causing the shattered spider web pattern, according to police reports.
The officer searched the area for suspects, and while walking the perimeter of the property, reportedly heard several popping sounds in the area. The officer walked west on 57th Street and heard the intermittent popping sounds grow louder. The officer walked back around to the front of a residence on 57th Street and observed a male, later identified as Scott Berry, 21, of Ocean City, walk out on the screened porch carrying two black-in-color handguns.
According to police reports, Berry informed the officer the weapons were just BB guns and he was ordered to hand them over and sit on the sidewalk. The guns were identical and appeared to be real handguns, but the officer determined they were BB guns that used CO2 as a propellant. Berry reportedly told the officer he and his friend had been in the backyard and were firing the BB guns at a trashcan.
Another officer collected information while the initial officer went to the residence to contact the other individual, later identified as Jacob Forrester, 20, of Ocean City. Forrester reportedly came to the door and the officer immediately detected a strong odor of raw marijuana coming from inside. The officer also saw a Mason jar on the table along with a grinder, or a device used to prepare marijuana for smoking.
The officer informed Forrester he was investigating the broken window and had already discussed he and Berry discharging the BB guns in the backyard. Forrester told police he and Berry had been firing the BB guns and had accidentally discharged the weapons in the direction of the residences that face the ocean along 57th Street.
The officer reportedly asked Forrester for his identification and Forrester advised him he had to go inside to get it. While Forrester was fetching his ID, he left the door open and the officer observed in plain sight a quantity of marijuana in a Mason jar along with loose marijuana and a grinder on the table.
When asked about the marijuana, Forrester reportedly told police he had obtained it from a source in Salisbury with the intent of selling it off to friends and associates. According to police reports, Forrester told police there was another large jar of marijuana within the residence along with scales for preparing it for sale.
At that point, Forrester was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a replica handgun. OCPD officers obtained a search warrant for the residence. The search revealed five pounds of raw marijuana in multiple kitchen-sized trash bags. The search also revealed multiple large marijuana plants in one of the bedrooms.
According to police reports, the officers also discovered clothes pins and wiring strewn across the room indicative of a system for drying out raw marijuana for future distribution. The search also revealed boxes of zip-lock bags and a notebook with weight designations and prices for each written on it. For the record, Berry was only charged with possession of a gun replica and was released.
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Assault, Bike Theft Charges After Incident
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested on multiple charges last weekend after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, swiping a bicycle and scrapping with police officers.
Around 7:25 p.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a residence at 14th Street after receiving a call from a man requesting a check on the welfare of his daughter and grandchildren because he had been receiving concerning text messages that her daughter’s boyfriend, later identified as Burt Foskey, 40, of Ocean City was starting to “act up.”
As officers approached the residence, they reportedly heard a woman scream “stop.” When the female victim opened the door, she reportedly yelled to the officers “get him,” and the officers detained Foskey in handcuffs and removed him from the residence. According to police reports, Foskey was combative while officers attempted to detain and question him and launched into an expletive-laced and racial slur-laced tirade at them, informing them he was going to “[expletive deleted] them up,” according to police reports.
The tirades reportedly went on for several minutes as neighbors started coming out of their homes to observe. At one point, a group of three men walking by told Foskey they were going to intervene if he did not sit down and continued screaming and resisting arrest.
Foskey was ultimately subdued and taken to the Public Safety Building for processing. OCPD officers interviewed the female victim who told police he had been in an argument and that Foskey had yanked her head back by her hair just before police arrived. The victim also reportedly told police she feared Foskey because of his gang affiliations and the officers noted in the report Foskey had tattoos consistent with gang membership. That led to a second-degree assault charge against Foskey.
OCPD officers also interviewed the victim’s two juvenile daughters who reportedly told police there was bicycle in the kitchen that was stolen. The female victim told police within the last couple of days, Foskey had walked to a liquor store a few blocks away and had returned on a bicycle. The victim told police Foskey bragged about how he had avoided surveillance cameras when he took the bike. Based on the evidence, theft charges were tacked on. The bike had a sticker on it from a local bicycle shop and was valued at over $300.
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Probation For Loaded Handgun In Vehicle
OCEAN CITY — One of two Baltimore men arrested in July on weapons charges after a loaded handgun was found while they were sleeping in a vehicle pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to six months, all of which was suspended.
Around 7 a.m. on July 19, 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 suspects through the windshield because of the heavy tinting on the other windows. The officers knocked on the vehicle’s windows for about 30 second 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 of the 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.
This week, Butler pleaded guilty to carrying a loaded handgun in a vehicle and was sentenced to six months, all of which was suspended. He was also placed on supervised probation for one year. Geter had the charges against him put on the stet, or inactive, docket.
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Boardwalk Tirade Results In Probation
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man, arrested on assault and other charges after allegedly causing a scene near the Boardwalk on the Fourth of July and scrapping with cops before attempting to spit blood on paramedics trying to evaluate him, was granted probation before judgment this week.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on July 4, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling the Boardwalk on a bicycle heard loud screaming coming from the ocean block at 8th Street. As the officer approached, he observed a suspect later identified as Joseph Walawender, 40, of Drums, Pa., standing face to face with a woman and screaming at her while attempting to hold her back with her hands. According to police reports, as the officer approached the scene, two small girls pleaded with him to “please don’t take my dad to jail.”
At that point, a large group of Boardwalk store employees had gathered on a balcony to watch the incident unfold. In addition, numerous other people gathered on hotel balconies to watch Walawender’s behavior, according to police reports. Walawender refused to identify himself or provide any identification to the officers.
When OCPD officers attempted to take Walawender into custody, he reportedly resisted and had to be taken to the ground forcefully, during which he landed on his front and began bleeding from his lips, nose and knee. Walawender laid on his hands and refused to be handcuffed until officers applied as many as four knee strikes to get him to comply. When he continued to kick at the officers, a violent person restraining device was applied to his ankles and he was ultimately subdued.
According to police report, during the tirade and subsequent arrest, as many as 60 people gathered on the Boardwalk at 8th Street to watch the incident unfold. He was charged with assault, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and failure to obey a lawful order. This week, Walawender pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and was granted probation before judgment. He was placed on probation for one year.