Suspect Arrested After Hotel Donnybrook
OCEAN CITY – A Pasadena man was arrested last weekend after allegedly starting a physical altercation with another family in the lobby of a downtown hotel.
Around 10:40 p.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a hotel at 17th Street for a report of a large dispute between guests in the hotel lobby. Upon arrival, OCPD officers observed two groups separated by the stairs in the lobby. Officers met with front desk personnel, who advised the two groups had been involved in a physical altercation near the entrance to the bar in the lobby of the hotel.
As officers observed, a member of one of the groups, later identified as Jake Vinopal, 21, of Pasadena, Md., began to yell at the other group standing next to the front desk. Meanwhile, other guests had entered the lobby from the elevators and had to shield their children from Vinopal’s behavior, according to police reports.
OCPD officers separated Vinopal from his group, which turned out to be his family. OCPD officers observed a cut on Vinopal’s forehead and another on his chin, according to police reports. Vinopal reportedly informed the officers that the other family had children playing in the hotel hallway earlier in the day and that one of the individuals said something disrespectful to his grandmother and he took issue with it, according to police reports.
The physical altercation reportedly occurred when Vinopal saw the same family later in the day by the elevator. Vinopal reportedly told police a male from the other group approached him and attacked him. Vinopal reportedly told police he blacked out and didn’t remember much of the remainder of the incident.
OCPD officers went to the 12th floor of the hotel to interview the other male involved in the altercation. The male victim had a small cut under his left eye and advised he had been involved in the altercation in the lobby. The victim told police Vinopal had threatened children in his family earlier in the day. A female member of the group told police she was gathering the children near a conference room and Vinopal was loitering in the lobby and making her feel uncomfortable, according to police reports.
The female victim contacted other members of her group to come to the lobby to help get the children to their rooms. The male victim told police when he went to the lobby, Vinopal began to threaten the female victim as she was attempting to get the children into the elevator.
The male victim told police Vinopal charged at him and attempted to take him to the ground, causing the victim to be pushed into a Christmas tree display near the elevator. The victim said he was possibly bitten on the hand by Vinopal and was scratched in the face by one of the women from the other group that were attempting to separate the two men. The male victim said members of both groups intervened to separate the two men, which is when he got the scratch under his eye.
Hotel front desk staff advised officers Vinopal was the individual who attacked the other man and started the physical altercation. Based on the evidence and testimony, Vinopal was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Loaded Handgun In Vehicle
OCEAN CITY – Two Hurlock men were arrested last weekend after a loaded handgun was found in their vehicle following a traffic stop.
Around 2:50 a.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the area of 80th Street reportedly observed a vehicle swerving within its own lane, change lanes abruptly and begin to slow down substantially as the officer got closer to it. The vehicle reportedly pulled into a condo parking lot at 94th Street and met with another vehicle before heading north on Coastal Highway.
The officer followed and reportedly observed the vehicle turn onto 120th Street, heading west in the eastbound lane. The vehicle then made a U-turn and attempted to come back to Coastal Highway. The OCPD officer initiated a traffic stop, but the vehicle continued to drive for three blocks to 123rd Street before stopping. The vehicle then accelerated again and turned onto the ocean block of 123rd Street, according to police reports.
The vehicle then made another U-turn toward Coastal Highway when the officer stepped out of the patrol vehicle and ordered the driver, later identified as Timothy Smith, 34, of Hurlock, Md., to stop the vehicle and put it in park. The officer told Smith and his passenger, identified as Dwight Cephas, 30, of Hurlock, to show their hands.
According to police reports, the officer could not see Smith’s hands as he moved his shoulders from side to side as he bent forward at the waist. Smith and Cephas were told multiple times to show their hands to the officer before complying.
Cephas attempted to get out of the vehicle, but the officer ordered him to get back in. Smith also attempted to get out of the vehicle and was also ordered to get back in. According to police reports, Smith exhibited signs of intoxication. Based on the evidence, Smith was frisked for weapons at the scene.
Another OCPD officer alerted the initial officer to the presence of a handgun on the passenger side of the vehicle. The handgun was a .22 caliber short revolver wedged and concealed between the passenger seat and the passenger door, according to police reports. An inspection of the handgun revealed it was loaded with six .22 caliber rounds. Also located in the vehicle was a baggie of marijuana and an open bottle of Hennessey cognac.
Both Cephas and Smith were arrested and charged with various weapons violations including having a loaded gun in a vehicle and having a loaded handgun on one’s person, along with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon and other counts.
Guilty Plea For Assault
OCEAN CITY – A Pennsylvania bail bondsman, arrested in July for beating another man he had tracked to a downtown Ocean City hotel, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree assault and was sentenced to six months in jail, all of which was suspended.
Around 5:25 p.m. last July 17, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a downtown Boardwalk hotel parking lot for a reported fight in progress. An OCPD officer had separated the two males, including a victim and a suspect identified as Mark Romanowski, 50, of Dallas, Pa., according to police reports.
The victim was reportedly about 10 to 15 feet away from Romanowski and appeared to be standing up, but was leaning against a wall to maintain his balance. The victim had a lot of blood on his face, coming from his nose and mouth, and also had a large bulge on his forehead, according to police reports.
While EMS was treating the victim, he started to become unresponsive, according to police reports and it became clear he was going to require transport to the hospital. Ocean City EMS advised officers the victim’s injuries were so severe, they were contacting Maryland State Police Aviation to transport him to Shock Trauma in Baltimore.
According to police reports, once the victim had been moved to an ambulance, he had become completely non-alert and unconscious. Some of his teeth had also been knocked out due to the strikes to his head, and he also a possible skull fracture, according to police reports.
According to police reports, Romanowski told officers he worked for a bail bond company and that he was a bail enforcement officer, or essentially a bounty hunter. Romanowski reportedly told officers he was trying to apprehend the victim on 31 outstanding felony warrants. However, a wanted check on the victim revealed he was only wanted on one active warrant out of Pennsylvania for assault.
Romanowski reportedly told officers he had tracked the victim to Ocean City and was waiting outside the hotel when he observed the victim exit through the main door. Romanowski said he grabbed the victim’s arm in an attempt to detain him in flex cuffs, but the victim threw a punch at him that did not land. Romanowski said the two men scuffled and they both fell on the ground.
However, OCPD officers interviewed a witness who provided a different version of the events, according to police reports. The witness said he allegedly observed Romanowski concealing himself in the hotel parking lot. When the victim walked out of the hotel, Romanowski allegedly charged him, put him in a headlock and then slammed him to a car parked in the lot, the witness told police.
The witness reportedly told police Romanowski and the victim fell to the ground, at which point Romanowski began punching the victim in the face multiple times. The witness told the officers when the victim started to get off the ground, Romanowski punched him in the face again, which is about the time OCPD officers arrived.
Romanowski’s girlfriend reportedly videoed the tail end of the incident with her cell phone and forwarded the video to police. The video reportedly depicts Romanowski using his hands and knees to pin the victim against the pavement. According to police reports, it was clearly visible in the video that the victim had obvious injuries and blood all over his face.
OCPD officers did call Romanowski’s employer, who confirmed the suspect did work for him, but the employer reportedly told police, “If someone resists, we use the minimum amount of force to apprehend,” according to police reports.
OCPD officers did not believe Romanowski had used the minimum amount of force, but rather excessive force, including numerous punches to the face and at least one knee strike to the victim’s head. Romanowski was charged with first-and-second-degree assault. On Monday, Romanowski pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault and was sentenced to six months, all of which was suspended.