Cops & Courts – November 17, 2023

Assault, Malicious Destruction

OCEAN CITY – After letting his temper get the best of him over the summer, a lower shore man was recently apprehended on assault and malicious destruction of property charges.

On Aug. 23, Ocean City police responded to a convenience store on Baltimore Avenue for an assault. The cashier told police Mario Morton, 54, of Salisbury, began arguing with him when he picked up a beer Morton was purchasing to scan its bar code. The cashier told a responding officer that an aggressive Morton quickly, “became irate and picked up several red shopping baskets near the door … and threw them” at him, according to police charging documents. The cashier said Morton then charged at the man before fleeing the store.

Video surveillance of the incident confirmed Morton arguing with the cashier before picking up a tip jar and throwing it behind the counter. The video shows Morton strike the cashier in the face with a banana and throw the grocery baskets at the cashier.

Police investigation found that after leaving the store Morton walked south to a toy store where he destroyed a chess piece on a chess display in front of the store as well as threw an A-frame chalk board into a chair breaking the chalk board. Morton was able to be identified by surveillance.

For the incidents, Morton was charged with second degree assault and two counts of malicious destruction under $1,000 on Aug. 23. After failing to appear in court, an arrest warrant was issued in October. He was apprehended Nov. 8. Morton is scheduled to appear in Worcester County District Court Dec. 13.

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Fight At School Reported

POCOMOKE – An investigation was initiated Monday into a fight at Pocomoke High School.

Pocomoke High School’s resource deputy responded to a fight in progress Monday involving four students. Pocomoke EMS responded and ultimately transported one student for treatment. Pocomoke City

Police also assisted and cleared once the incident was under control.

This incident continues to be under investigation and to protect the identities of the juveniles involved no further information will be released, according to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office.

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Juvenile Assault

OCEAN CITY – A New Jersey woman is facing juvenile assault charges after an incident in a hotel this month.

On Nov. 10, around midnight, Ocean City police officers responded to a Boardwalk hotel for a welfare check after an intoxicated hotel guest displayed disturbing behavior toward her daughter.

Police met with a security officer who informed officers a woman, later identified as Nirva Soliman, 40, of Orange, N.J., was heavily intoxicated and was physically led by staff to her hotel room’s bed because she had fallen and hit her head. Soliman refused to stay in bed and requested the security officer take her 5-year-old child with him. Soliman and the juvenile then began riding the elevator up and down the hotel with witnesses telling hotel staff about Soliman’s level of inebriation. Soliman and the child were in the hotel’s ballroom when police arrived.

Police spoke with a witness who told police Soliman had fallen and when she tried to help her, she became combative. The witness said the juvenile was crying and asking for help, telling her mom to “stop hurting her,” according to police reports. A second witness trying to help said the juvenile was desperate for help. The second witness told police Soliman grabbed the juvenile’s arm and was “twisting it behind her back” and then grabbed her arm.

A police officer spoke with the juvenile who said her mom struck her in the head multiple times with an open hand. Due to the obvious injuries and Soliman’s refusal to answer any questions, Child Protective Services was called and Soliman was charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

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Assault Charge For Fighting

OCEAN CITY – A Maryland woman’s punch outside a bar has resulted in a second-degree assault charge.

On Nov. 10 at 12:46 a.m., law enforcement was dispatched to Wicomico Street for a fight in progress. As police arrived on the scene, the responding officer observed a woman, Jessica Krause, 38, of Joppa, strike another female in the chest. Police noted in a statement of charges the victim did not retaliate.

According to bar employees, the incident was a result of a game of pool. Two men were engaged in an argument outside when the victim exited the bar to check on her family member’s safety. A verbal altercation then ensued between the victim and Krause, who told police the victim took a swing at her first. Krause told police, “I attacked her because she came after me first,” according to charging documents.