OCEAN CITY — Resort officials met in a closed session Wednesday afternoon to address a major brawl on the Boardwalk early Wednesday morning and other recent high-profile incidents.
Just after midnight on Wednesday, a fight broke out on the Boardwalk between large groups of young adults. At least one young man was punched repeatedly in the face while sitting on a Boardwalk bench to the point it appeared he fell unconscious. Other skirmishes broke out during the larger altercation which carried over to the beach area.
A video of the incident captured by a witness and posted on social media went viral and left many in the community with more questions than answers. The incident early Wednesday morning continued a pattern of violence in some areas of the resort including the Boardwalk.
Around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, a fight involving a large group of people broke out on the Boardwalk between 6th and 7th Streets during which one individual was stabbed.
After another major brawl on the Boardwalk early Wednesday morning, Mayor Rick Meehan said the town and the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) were acting quickly to address the ongoing violent situation. Video of the fighting can be seen here.
“The past few days have been extremely difficult for our community and our police department,” he said. “The safety of our residents and visitors remains our number-one priority. We are equally horrified by the actions displayed on social media videos depicting violence and unruly crowds. This behavior has no place in Ocean City and violence like this will not be tolerated. The town and the OCPD are working immediately on addressing this disturbing behavior.”
To that end, a special meeting of the Ocean City Police Commission including the OCPD was hastily pulled together for Wednesday afternoon. The virtual meeting convened at 1 p.m. at which time Council President Lloyd Martin quickly announced the police commission would continue the meeting in a closed session. The results of that meeting and more information about the early Wednesday morning incident will be updated when the information becomes available.
According to the agenda packet, the reason for the Police Commission to meet in closed session is to “discuss public security if the public body determines that public discussion would constitute a risk to the public or public security including the deployment of fire and police services and staff and the development and implementation of emergency plans. This exception is being invoked to evaluate and coordinate police enforcement measures.”
