Motorcycle Crash
OCEAN CITY — An unidentified man was taken to the hospital with minor injuries this week after the motorcycle he was operating collided with a motor vehicle on Tuesday afternoon.
Around 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Ocean City police and fire personnel responded to the crash scene in the area of 70th Street and Coastal Highway. The motorcycle operator was transported by Ocean City EMS to TidalHealth Peninsula Hospital where he was in stable condition. Two lanes of Coastal Highway were closed for about 40 minutes.
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Fugitive Found With Firearm
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested last week after being found in possession of a firearm during a domestic incident at a downtown motel.
Around 9 a.m. last Wednesday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a motel at 31st Street for a reported domestic incident. Upon arrival, officers made contact with a suspect identified as Frank Mattis, 22, of Uniontown, Pa., who was standing outside a room on the third floor while holding a child. OCPD officers observed a female inside the room, who appeared to be upset and crying while also holding a child, according to police reports.
While officers were interviewing Mattis, the child he was holding said something about daddy having a gun, according to police reports. When asked if there was a gun in the room, Mattis reportedly told the officers there was a gun inside that belonged to the female.
OCPD officers located a 9mm handgun clearly visible on a chair in the room. Pieces of the gun’s magazine were located in a corner of the room. A background check on Mattis revealed he was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Pennsylvania and he was taken into custody at that point.
OCPD officers interviewed the female, who said Mattis was her boyfriend and the father of her children. She reportedly told officers she and Mattis had a fight over his desire to leave vacation a day early and that he was out of cigarettes. The female victim told police during the fight, Mattis picked up the handgun and the gun’s magazine and threw them against the wall, causing the magazine to break into multiple pieces.
Mattis was arrested on the fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania. Locally, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a fugitive and malicious destruction of property.
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Boardwalk Disorderly Conduct
OCEAN CITY — A local man was arrested on assault and disorderly conduct charges last week after allegedly being found passed out on a Boardwalk bench.
Around 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) bicycle officer patrolling on the Boardwalk was alerted to an individual passed out on a picnic bench outside a restaurant. The officer approached the suspect, later identified as Perry Hazard, 31, of Berlin, who was unconscious on the bench, according to police reports.
The officer reportedly tried to wake Hazard to no avail. When the officer shook him again, Hazard lifted his head slightly, according to police reports. When asked for his identification, Hazard reportedly launched into an expletive-laced tirade and he was warned if he continued to yell profanity, he would be arrested for disorderly conduct.
Ocean City EMS arrived to check on Hazard and he was reportedly aggressive with the paramedic attempting to check him out. By now, large groups of people began forming around the scene on the Boardwalk. Hazard stood up and faced the paramedic with his raised and closed fists and the OCPD officers intervened to prevent a conflict, according to police reports.
At that point, OCPD officers attempted to arrest Hazard for assault and disorderly conduct. He reportedly tried to pull away and continued to yell profanities as OCPD officers took him down on the Boardwalk. As he continued to yell profanities, the crowd grew on the Boardwalk and others came out on their hotel balconies to watch the scene unfold, according to police reports.
When Hazard was placed in a transport vehicle, he reportedly kicked the windows and urinated on the seats. When he was removed from the Boardwalk, the large groups of people that had formed around the scene reportedly began to applaud the officers for getting him off the Boardwalk and taken away.
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Vehicle Theft Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A Virginia man was arrested on motor vehicle theft charges last week when resort police found him driving a stolen vehicle in downtown Ocean City.
Around 4:20 p.m. last Thursday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers conducted a traffic stop at Philadelphia Avenue and Wicomico Street on a vehicle reported stolen in Virginia Beach. The driver, identified as Traquan Timmons, 21, of Exmore, Va., exited the vehicle and was detained in handcuffs, according to police reports.
Ocean City Communications advised Timmons had a potential warrant out of Virginia Beach for grand larceny and later confirmed the warrant was active. Ocean City Communications also confirmed the vehicle had been stolen in Virginia. When interviewed, Timmons reportedly told officers he did not know the vehicle was stolen.
He reportedly told police he had recently purchased the vehicle from a private individual with a down payment of $1,500 and that he still had a $500 payment to make. He did not have a bill of sale or a title for the vehicle, according to police reports.
OCPD officers interviewed the male passenger, who reportedly told police he had just met Timmons a few days earlier and Timmons was giving him a ride from a downtown motel to a convenience store. Through the investigation, OCPD officers learned Timmons was the primary suspect in the motor vehicle theft in Virginia Beach, according to police reports. Timmons was arrested and charged with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and driving without a license. The passenger was not charged.
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Midtown Bar Melee
OCEAN CITY — A Pylesville, Md. man was arrested on multiple counts of assault last week after allegedly scrapping with security staff at a midtown bar.
Around 12:15 a.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a bar at 53rd Street for a reported assault that had already occurred. The officer met with the bar manager, who reportedly told police the suspect, later identified as Angelo Koulatsos, 23, of Pylesville, Md., had been removed from the bar by security staff and had fought with him and staffers near a gazebo at the establishment.
The bar manager told police Koulatsos had hit him in the face with a metal bar stool during the altercation. The manager had a roughly two-inch laceration on his face that was bleeding, according to police reports.
OCPD officers met with another bar security staffer who reportedly had his shirt ripped during the altercation. A third staffer told police Koulatsos had hit him in the back with a metal bar stool. OCPD officers viewed surveillance video from the establishment and observed Koulatsos allegedly shoving another man.
The video shows bar security staff following Koulatsos out of the bar area toward the gazebo area, but the rest of the fight was not captured on video. However, the video does show the metal bar stools in disarray, according to police reports. Koulatsos was arrested and charged with multiple counts of second-degree assault and malicious destruction of property.
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Downtown Bar Donnybrook
OCEAN CITY — Two Pennsylvania men were arrested last weekend after allegedly assaulting a downtown bar security staffer and breaking the establishment’s door.
Around 12:10 a.m. on Sunday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a bar on Wicomico Street for a reported malicious destruction of property. OCPD officers observed two suspects, identified as Scott Lee, 38, of Shrewsbury, Pa., and Brian MacDougall, Jr., 35, of Manchester, Pa., walking away from the bar.
When Lee and MacDougal saw OCPD officers, they began running, according to police reports. OCPD officers interviewed a bar security staffer, who reportedly told police MacDougall had been highly intoxicated and was escorted out of the establishment for acting disorderly.
MacDougall tried to re-enter the bar, but the security staffer was able to lock the door. Lee then allegedly attempted to intervene and let MacDougal back in the bar. According to police reports, Lee attempted to strike the security staffer with a closed fist, but missed the mark. Bar security was able to push Lee out and attempted to close the door, but Lee and MacDougall pushed the door into the security staffer, striking him in the face, according to police reports.
Bar security was able to close the door and lock it, but Lee began kicking it, according to police reports.
Lee and MacDougall then reportedly kicked the bar’s west door, causing it to fracture, before walking westbound on Wicomico Street. OCPD officers located Lee and MacDougal as they were fleeing the scene and had them sit on the sidewalk.
According to police reports, the two suspects launched into expletive-laced tirades toward the officers. Lee and MacDougall were arrested for second-degree assault, malicious destruction of property and other charges. While in the prisoner transport van, Lee reportedly kicked another prisoner in the van in the face, which was captured on live video surveillance, and additional charges were tacked on.