OCEAN CITY — A Crisfield man was charged with armed robbery and first-degree assault last week after police were able to connect him to an incident at a midtown hotel on May 7.
On May 7, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) detectives began investigating a reported armed robbery the hotel. Detectives met with a victim who reportedly told police he was sleeping in a room on the second floor when he was awoken by a suspect attempting to strike him in the head with a toilet tank cover.
The victim told police after he was struck, he began fighting with the suspect, later identified as Lacaine Bivens, 22, of Crisfield. The victim reportedly told police he was able to push Bivens up against the television stand, at which point Bivens retrieved a handgun from his waistband, according to police reports. The victim reportedly was able to push Bivens’ hand down, preventing him from raising the gun.
The victim reportedly told police there was an unidentified female in the hotel room and he heard Bivens say to her, “back up girl, I’m going to shoot him.” The victim told police he was attempting to open the door to the hotel room when Bivens manipulated the security lock to prevent him from leaving. Bivens then struck the victim in the head with the butt of the gun, according to police reports. The weapon’s magazine broke open, causing bullets and the magazine spring to fall to the floor.
The victim was able to free himself and fled the room before running to the front desk to call the police. The victim was able to provide a description of Bivens and accessed his social media profile, which was under the name Jump Out, according to police reports. OCPD detectives were able to obtain a photograph of Bivens from the Criminal Justice Information System and compared it to the social media profile shared by the victim to confirm his identity.
Crime scene technicians processed the scene and located blood throughout the hotel room. They also located 29 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition on the floor of the hotel room near the front door. A background check revealed Bivens had been convicted of robbery in 2017 in Wicomico County and had been sentenced to 15 years with all but five years suspended.
Based on the evidence and victim testimony, detectives last week applied for and received a warrant for Bivens arrest, charging him with armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault and weapons charges. He was taken into custody last week without incident. Bivens had a bail review hearing last Thursday and was ordered to be held without bond.
