Hit-and-Run Arrest
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested for hit-and-run last week after allegedly colliding with another vehicle and leaving the scene.
Around 11 p.m. last Monday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of 8th Street and Philadelphia Avenue for a reported hit-and-run collision that had already occurred. Ocean City Communications advised a Toyota Rav4 had side-swiped a tow truck in Ocean City and the victim’s whose vehicle had been struck was following the suspect, later identified as Leslie Lilly, 38, of Ocean City, according to police reports.
The victim reportedly stayed on the line with Ocean City Communications and provided updates on the suspect’s position as he drove west across the Route 50 Bridge into West Ocean City. The victim followed and continued to provide updates as Lilly drove west on Route 50, turned at Route 589 and headed east on Route 90 before being stopped by a Worcester County Sheriff’s deputy on 63rd Street in Ocean City, according to police reports.
An OCPD officer arrived on the scene and reportedly asked Lilly what had happened, but Lilly acted as if he did not know what the officer was talking about. When asked if he had been in the south end of Ocean City earlier, Lilly told the officer he had been to a sub shop in West Ocean City about 30 minutes earlier. The officer told Lilly he had been stopped because a victim reported he had struck his vehicle and left the scene, according to police reports.
Lilly reportedly told the officer he did not strike another vehicle, but another vehicle had struck his and the driver of that vehicle began to follow him. Lilly reportedly said he was traveling in the southbound lane closest to the bus lane when his vehicle was struck.
Lilly reportedly told the officer the other vehicle was in the center lane when it struck his vehicle, and the damage was on the passenger side. The officer pointed out if the other vehicle had struck him from the center lane, there was no way for the damage to Lilly’s vehicle to be on the passenger side, according to police reports. Lilly then told the officer he did not know if the collision took place in Ocean City or West Ocean City. The officer reportedly told Lilly if his vehicle had been struck, he certainly would have remembered when and where the collision took place.
Officers interviewed the victim, who advised he was traveling in his tow truck in the area of 8th Street when Lilly’s vehicle swerved into his lane and collided with his truck. The victim told police Lilly’s driver side rear bumper collided with the front bumper of his truck. The victim told officers Lilly’s vehicle fishtailed as a result of the collision. The victim told police he made eye contact with Lilly multiple times, but Lilly never stopped, according to police reports.
The victim reportedly told the officers he followed Lilly across the bridge and through West Ocean City to Route 589 and never lost sight of him. He said Lilly never stopped, nor did he ever change drivers along the way. Based on the evidence and testimony, Lilly was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage.
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Traffic Stop Leads To Assault
OCEAN CITY — A Berlin man was arrested last week on multiple charges after scrapping with resort police officers.
Around 8 p.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to the area of Dorchester Street for a report of a suspicious vehicle. Ocean City firefighters reported they were suspicious of a silver truck with a red cap parked in front of the fire station at Dorchester Street. The truck was parked blocking the garage doors where fire trucks and ambulances exit the building and had been there for about 30 minutes, causing concern for the firefighters, according to police reports.
As the officer was heading south on Philadelphia Avenue, a truck matching the description provided by the firefighters was observed turning south onto Philadelphia Avenue from Dorchester Street. The officer noticed the truck did not have a functioning rear registration light and conducted a traffic stop.
When the officer approached the truck, the driver, identified as Josiah Magee, 22, of Berlin, got out and the officer advised him to get back into the vehicle. When told the reason for the traffic stop, Magee again began to get out and told the officer he wanted to see for himself if the light was not operating, according to police reports.
Once Magee was back in the truck, the officer asked him for his license and registration. The officer detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the passenger compartment, according to police reports. The officer reportedly asked Magee to exit the truck so he could perform field sobriety tests to ensure Magee was safe to operate the vehicle. Magee was reportedly uncooperative, and the officer told him a final time if he did not get out and comply with orders, he would be arrested.
Due to Magee’s agitated and argumentative behavior, the officer attempted to detain him in handcuffs, according to police reports. Magee tensed his arms and refused to place them behind his back. Magee then went down to his knees and laid on the ground, all the while refusing to put his arms behind his back and continuing to resist despite multiple orders not to do so, according to police reports.
Magee continued to resist and scuffled with officers, at one point shoving an officer with his hands in an attempt to flee. Other officers responded with the situation tense and evolving rapidly according to police reports. In their attempt to arrest Magee, officer conducted multiple knee strikes and punched Magee in the face multiple times, according to police reports.
Magee was ultimately brought under control when an OCPD officer deploye a taser, according to police reports. He was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and obstructing and hindering.
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Smashed Light Fixture Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A local man was arrested for malicious destruction of property last week after allegedly smashing an exterior light fixture at north-end condo following a domestic dispute.
Around 2:55 a.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a condominium at 79th Street for a reported domestic incident and malicious destruction of property. As the officer approached the condo, he heard a female voice from inside saying, “Why did you hit me?” according to police reports. The officer also noticed the housing to the front porch light was damaged with pieces of it on the ground.
The officer knocked on the door and it was answered by a male individual, who pointed to the living room where the couple was, including the suspect identified as Nathaniel Beard, 22, of Ocean City. The officer knew Beard from previous encounters with the suspect, according to police reports.
The investigation revealed Beard had been in an argument with his girlfriend, after which he went outside and punched the light fixture, causing it to break. Beard’s roommate said he heard the argument but never saw either party hit each other. He also told the officer he heard Beard go outside and heard a crash, and when he went outside himself, he saw pieces of the broken light fixture on the ground, according to police reports.
Beard reportedly had fresh blood from a cut on his hand but told the officer he cut his hand on a loose doorknob to his room. Beard was arrested and charged with malicious destruction of property. According to police reports, Beard’s two roommates expressed a concern if Beard was released, he would think one of both of them called the police and that he would retaliate against them, according to police reports.
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Heroin Possession Arrest
OCEAN CITY — A local woman was arrested last weekend after allegedly being found in possession of heroin during a traffic stop.
Around 3 p.m. on Sunday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the midtown area observed a pick-up truck parked in the Ocean City Tennis Center parking lot at 61st Street. The officer observed the female driver appeared to be asleep in the driver’s seat and approached the vehicle.
The officer made contact with the driver, identified as Savannah Cole, 22, of Ocean City and asked if she was okay, according to police reports. Cole and her male passenger advised they were both okay. During the interaction, the officer observed small bundles of suspected heroin on Cole’s thigh, according to police reports.
Cole reportedly told the officer her male passenger was a heroin user, and she was going to flush the heroin down the toilet when they got home. The officer took possession of the heroin and Cole was arrested and charged with possession.
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Guilty Of Disorderly Conduct
OCEAN CITY — A Huntingtown, Md. man, arrested in September after first allegedly assaulting his girlfriend at a downtown hotel and later screaming expletives at the officers attempting to remove him, pleaded guilty last week to disorderly conduct.
Around 3:05 a.m. on Sept. 11, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a Boardwalk hotel at 16th Street for a reported possible domestic assault. OCPD officers responded to the room on the ninth floor and could hear a male’s raised voice coming from the unit, according to police reports.
The officers made contact with the male, later identified as Joshua Piovesan, 22, of Huntingtown, Md. Officers met with a female victim, who told them she and Piovesan had been in a verbal argument, but she did not remember if he had pushed her, according to police reports. The victim told police the couple was arguing because he could not locate the keys to his vehicle.
OCPD officers, convinced everything was okay, cleared the scene with no action taken, according to police reports. However, before one officer left the scene, he got another call from Ocean City Communications that the female victim had called back and wanted Piovesan removed from the room.
OCPD officers responded back to the hotel room on the ninth floor and Piovesan was reportedly irate and yelling.
Based on the evidence, Piovesan was arrested and charged with second-degree assault at that point. As OCPD officers were escorting Piovesan through the hotel lobby, he began screaming “[expletive deleted] pigs,” and that the officers “smelled like bacon,” and other racially-charged vulgarities, according to police reports. Last week, Piovesan pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.