SNOW HILL – A Baltimore man convicted of armed robbery following a car theft in Ocean City was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but 12 years suspended.
Davarn M. Leach Jr., 18, was sentenced on Dec. 15 to 20 years in the Division of Correction for his conviction on the charge of armed robbery. Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Brian D. Shockley imposed the sentence and suspended all but 12 years, placing Leach on three years of supervised probation upon his release.
According to a release from the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office, the armed robbery charge against Leach came after the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) responded to a call for service on Nov. 18, 2022. Officers were dispatched to Dorchester Street, where they spoke with a victim who stated he’d been standing near his vehicle when he was attacked by a group of three males.
“One of the males produced a silver semi-automatic handgun, pointed it at the victim’s head and then struck him with it while demanding money, car keys and a cell phone,” the release reads.
Davarn Leach Jr.
The suspects then stole the victim’s vehicle and other items and fled the scene. While the victim was transported to the hospital where he received treatment for a laceration that occurred during the assault, OCPD officers located the vehicle as it was fleeing west on Route 50. They alerted other law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction in the area.
The vehicle eventually crashed in Cambridge, according to law enforcement. It was then that police identified the passenger, Leach, as the robbery suspect. Officers located the victim’s car keys and debit card on Leach’s person at the time of his arrest, as well as a silver handgun which had been reported stolen from another vehicle in Ocean City earlier the same day.
Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser thanked the Ocean City Police Department and Worcester County Sheriff’s Office for their swift actions in response to the initial call for service and eventual traffic stop which resulted in Leach’s arrest and subsequent conviction. Heiser also commended Assistant State’s Attorney Dempsey Stewart who prosecuted the case.
