OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on multiple charges last weekend after allegedly striking a downtown nightclub owner in the head with a metal post and cracking a glass door with a brick during a dispute about leaving with a drink.
Around 11:40 p.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers were flagged down by security standing outside a nightclub at 17th Street. OCPD officers met with the nightclub’s owner, who advised he had just been hit in the head with a metal post. The victim told police the man who had hit him, later identified as Timothy Held, 36, of Toughkenamon, Pa., was still sitting in 17th Street.
The victim told police Held had been in the club and when he was leaving, he attempted to bring an alcoholic beverage outside and onto the sidewalk. Bar security told Held he could not leave with an alcoholic beverage, but he continued to attempt to push by them.
When the security staffer attempted to take the drink from Held, it dropped on the sidewalk. The club owner, who was witnessing the scene, bent over to pick up the cup from the sidewalk. Held allegedly picked up a stanchion post that was outside the club and swung it like a baseball bat, striking the victim in the head, according to police reports.
The victim reportedly told police he walked to the benches near the bar entrance to tend to his injuries. The officer observed a laceration and swelling on the victim’s head. The security staffer told a similar version of the events. The staffer told police after Held struck the victim with the metal post, he took off running toward 17th Street.
The staffer reportedly told police he stayed at the entrance to the club to attend to the club owner’s head injury. The staffer told police an unidentified citizen who had observed the assault then began shouting, “He’s coming back, he’s coming back,” according to police reports.
The staffer reportedly told police he saw Held running back toward the club entrance holding what appeared to be a brick in his hand. The staffer told police Held then threw the brick at the glass door at the southwest corner of the building, cracking the glass, according to police reports. The staffer reportedly told police Held took off running again when he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk on 17th Street.
The officer observed the glass door at the nightclub was cracked and there was a brick on the ground directly in front of the cracked door, according to police reports. Held was taken into custody and charged with second-degree assault and two counts of malicious destruction of property. During a search incident to the arrest, a packet of suboxone was found in Held’s wallet and additional possession charges were added.
