Squatters Charged
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was charged with assault for allegedly beating up his ex-girlfriend last week and both were charged with burglary for allegedly squatting at a downtown residence.
Around 6:30 p.m. last Tuesday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were dispatched to a convenience store and 2nd Street for a reported domestic assault. Officers met with a female victim, who had multiple bruises on her head and face along with dried blood on her disheveled clothes, according to police reports. The victim reportedly told the officer her ex-boyfriend, identified as Walter Everett, 57, of Ocean City, with whom the OCPD is very familiar because of previous incidents, was the individual who had assaulted her.
The female told police the couple had been in a residence on 2nd Street where the assault occurred and that Everett was likely still in the residence. The victim told police Everett had punched her in the head and face multiple times and grabbed and bent back her arm in an attempt to break it, according to police reports.
OCPD officers responded to the residence and found the back door unlocked. According to police reports, the officers loudly announced their presence and asked if anyone was inside, to no avail. Uncertain if Everett was in the residence, OCPD officers released a K-9 into the unit to clear it, according to police reports. OCPD officers observed Everett inside and told him to come out while showing them his hands.
Everett did not come out, so officers entered the unit and found him sitting on a couch wearing only shorts and one shoe, according to police reports. One OCPD reportedly held Everett and gunpoint and ordered him to put his hands up before he was handcuffed. Everett reportedly told police he wanted to be treated by paramedics, so he was allowed to go with EMS to Atlantic General Hospital.
OCPD officers also went to AGH to follow up on the investigation. While in the emergency room, Everett allegedly got out of his wheelchair and approached the victim again and attempted to intimidate her to the point hospital security had to remove her from the general emergency room waiting area.
While at the hospital, the victim told police the couple had been squatting at the residence on 2nd Street and that they did not have permission to be in the unit. OCPD officers contacted the unit’s owner who confirmed nobody had permission to be in it. The owner reportedly told police the unit was locked, but there was a spare key inside, indicating the couple had broken in and retrieved the key.
As a result, Everett was charged with second-degree assault for the alleged attack. Both were charged with fourth-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into the downtown unit.