OCEAN CITY — Three Maryland men were arrested this week after allegedly breaking into a residence following a dispute over a cell phone.
Around 1:10 a.m. on Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a residence at 78th Street for a reported burglary. The officer arrived and met with the unit’s three residents, who advised they had been at a downtown bar and one of them had mistakenly picked up a phone that did not belong to them.
When they got back to their residence at 78th Street, the phone rang and one of them answered and realized then he had picked up someone else’s phone, according to police reports. When the phone was answered, a group on the other end angrily asked where they were and where was the phone, according to police reports.
The three victims told the angry group on the other end it was an accident and provided information about where they were so arrangements could be made to get it back. The reportedly angry group, including Dwayne Jenkins, 31, of Frederick, Md., James Crawford, 36, of Baltimore, and Joshua Sawyer, 34, of Essex, Md., arrived a short time later at the residence at 78th Street.
One of the victims reportedly handed the phone to Jenkins, who was the owner, but Jenkins pushed past him through the unit’s closed door and into the living room as Crawford and Sawyer followed.
Crawford and Sawyer reportedly threatened the other two victims, who were inside. The first victim attempted to get the three suspects to leave by offering them money in the form of $200 in cash. Jenkins continued to threaten the victims, saying, “I’d kill you,” and “I know where you live,” according to police reports.
Jenkins then followed a victim into his bedroom and threw him against a wall, according to police reports. Jenkins then reportedly threw the victim’s television from the dresser to the floor, smashing it, and did the same to the victim’s Xbox gaming system. The victim took $200 out of a drawer and handed it to Jenkins, who then reached into the drawer and took an additional $500 in cash from the victim, according to police reports.
The three suspects then reportedly drove south on Coastal Highway and west over the Route 50 Bridge. The group was located at a convenience store in West Ocean City.
Each were ultimately arrested and charged with home invasion, breaking and entering, first-degree burglary, breaking and entering with intent to commit an act of violence, theft and other serious counts.
