Hotel Threats Lead To Arrest
OCEAN CITY — An Ohio man was arrested last weekend after allegedly causing a scene at a downtown hotel and later being found in possession of controlled dangerous substances.
Around 5:20 a.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a downtown hotel for a reported suspicious person. The officer met with the hotel’s night auditor, who reportedly told police a suspect, later identified as Adam Mugford, 34, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, had been loitering inside the hotel.
According to police reports, the night clerk found Mugford sleeping inside the elevator, and when she awoke him he reportedly told her “I’m going to rape and kill you unless you buy me a pizza,” and “Give me a pizza or I’ll slit your throat, and “Have you ever seen someone bleed before?”
Mugford reportedly tried to grab a statut and utilize it to shatter the hotel lobby’s window, but the night auditor grabbed it before he could do any damage. Mugford then grabbed a trash bag filled with beach towels and proceeded to vomit inside of it, according to police reports.
Another OCPD officer observed Mugford in another hotel parking lot in the area reportedly holding himself up on a truck tailgate. As the officer approached, Mugford’s hands slipped off the tailgate, causing him to strike the left side of his face against the tailgate door. The officer determined Mugford was intoxicated. Another OCPD officer reported Mugford had been permanently trespassed from another hotel further up Baltimore Avenue hours earlier when he was found sleeping in a hallway.
Mugford was arrested at that point. During a search incident to the arrest, OCPD officers reportedly located on his person a plastic pill bottle that contained two plastic baggies of suspected powder cocaine, and another plastic baggie containing three blue pills determined to be Alprazolam. Mugford was charged with intoxicated endangerment, disorderly conduct and possession of controlled dangerous substances.
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Weapons, Weed Seized
OCEAN CITY — A Princess Anne man was arrested on multiple charges last weekend after getting pulled over for driving a vehicle with expired tags.
Around 2:30 a.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the area of 48th Street observed a vehicle with expired registration tags. The officer able to determine one of the vehicle’s two registered owners was identified as Michael Townsend, 30, of Princess Anne. The officer reportedly pulled alongside of Townsend and identified him from his MVA photo.
The officer pulled Townsend over and asked for his license and registration, but Townsend handed the officer a Maryland identification card, according to police reports. A background check revealed Townsend’s Maryland driver’s license had been revoked. The check also revealed a warrant for failing to appear in a prior driving while revoked case, according to police reports.
The officer conducted an inventory of the vehicle’s contents because it was going to be towed. When the officer looked in the vehicle, he saw in plain view a large silver knife with a wooden handle concealed in a sheath between the driver’s seat and the center console. Under the driver’s seat the officer located a plastic baggie of suspected marijuana. That discovery caused the officer to transition to a probable cause search.
According to police reports, inside the center console the officer located a suspected marijuana grinder and a black cylinder with more marijuana. Also in the glove compartment, the officer located a switchblade-style knife, according to police reports. Townsend was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon, possession of a martial arts weapon and driving on a revoked license.
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Police-Style Baton Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A Washington, D.C. woman was arrested last week after a police-style baton was found in her purse during the traffic stop.
Around 2:30 a.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer stopped a vehicle at 23rd Street for traffic violations. The officer approached the vehicle and observed the tint to be so dark that he could not see inside it. The officer identified the driver and the front seat passenger as Marquita Davis, 28, of Washington, D.C.
The officer searched the vehicle and found small amounts of marijuana in the center console. During a subsequent search, the officer located in Davis’ purse a Street Wise, police-style baton. Also discovered was more marijuana and bath salts in Davis’ purse. Davis was charged with possession of a police-style baton in city limits and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
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Gun Discharge Sentence
OCEAN CITY — A South Carolina man, arrested in March after a handgun he left hidden in an uptown hotel room discharged through the wall of an adjacent hotel room, was sentenced to 18 months with all but three months suspended.
On March 17, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a hotel at 112th Street to investigate suspicious circumstances. They met with the hotel general manager, who reportedly advised hotel staff discovered damage to a hanging wall mirror inside room 348 back on March 12. When employees went to replace the mirror, they discovered a suspected bullet hole on the interior wall behind the mirror.
OCPD detectives examined the wall and determined a ballistic had been fired from a room, traveled through the wall into another room, went through the hanging wall mirror, a bed’s headboard and into the adjacent wall where the projectile came to rest, according to police reports.
The general manager reportedly told police the room where the gunshot originated was being rented long-term by a family of four, including Jamir Jones, 18, of Dillion, S.C., two other adults and a 13-year-old juvenile. Jones reportedly told police a man they only knew as “Zae” had recently stayed with them and had recently left to return south. According to Jones, Zae had a handgun and forgot it in a laundry basket in their room. Jones said he and the other two adults went to work at a chicken factory in Delaware on March 11, leaving the 13-year-old juvenile at the hotel.
Jones reportedly told police the juvenile was looking for something and moved the laundry basket, causing the gun to fall to the floor and discharge, which caused the damage to the room. The juvenile reportedly admitted moving the laundry basket and the firearm fell to the floor, causing it to discharge. The juvenile denied ever touching or manipulating the handgun.
Permission was granted to search the interior of the room and officers discovered that room’s hanging wall mirror was also damaged with what appeared to be the entrance hole for the projectile. Permission was also granted to search the vehicle of the adult male in the family and the handgun was located in the trunk rolled up in a ballcap. The gun was unloaded, and the magazine was located within a shoe in the trunk. A computer check revealed the gun was reported stolen in Dillon, S.C.
OCPD officers went back to the hotel room to question the other adult male in the family, but Jones reportedly admitted the gun was his at that point. Jones advised he left the handgun hidden in the laundry basket while he went to work on March 11, and when he returned, he learned the 13-year-old juvenile had located it and it had been fired inadvertently.
Jones also acknowledged he made up the original story about the man known only as Zae, according to police reports. Jones was charged with a slew of weapons charges, reckless endangerment and providing a false statement to a police officer. Last week, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a minor and was sentenced to 18 months, 15 months of which were suspended. He was also placed on supervised probation for two years.