Ocean City Today Police Briefs

The Berlin Police Department seized a former police vehicle, equipped with emergency lights, being driven by a 17-year-old who was trying to stop other drivers.

On April 30, a gray Ford Crown Victoria with darkly tinted windows was reported to police as speeding and attempting to stop other drivers. Officers with the Berlin department and Maryland State Police clocked the driver at 81 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per hour zone on Route 50, according to reports.

The driver fled from police, first in the car and then on foot, but was soon caught. When searching the car, police allegedly found blue police lights in the trunk and on the grill. The car was also equipped with a working siren and driver's side spot lamp, police said.

Anyone who may have had a similar encounter with a car matching this description is asked to contact Sgt. J.D. Lawson of the Berlin Police Department at 410-641-1333 or the Maryland State Police at 410-641-3101.

A 46-year-old Berlin man was arrested on May 1 on multiple charges, including one for rape, the Berlin Police Department reported.
Scott Allan Joy had outstanding warrant from Pennsylvania for rape and forgery charges and from Maryland for numerous theft and forgery charges.
Police received a tip that Joy was living in Berlin and given a description of him and his car. Joy was located a short time later driving in the town limits.
Police stopped the car and took Joy into custody without incident. He is being held at the Worcester County Jail without bail pending extradition to Pennsylvania.

A 26-year-old man was arrested by Ocean City police on May 1, after he was found drunk on the Boardwalk and refused to wait quietly for someone to pick him up.

John Leonard Hale of Finksburg, Md., was charged with resisting arrest and two counts of second-degree assault.

Hale was found by police on the Boardwalk at 19th Street, leaning against a payphone booth. Police said he was extremely intoxicated. Hale was unable to tell police where he was staying, but the officers spoke with his mother who agreed to pick him up.

While waiting for his mother to arrive, police said Hale would not listen to requests to sit down and became argumentative and combative with the officers. Hale reportedly grabbed one of the officers and allegedly kicked him as he was being arrested.

A man was taken to the hospital after he received second-degree burns while trying to extinguish a fire in a shed on May 3, the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office reported.

The fire was in the shed behind a home on Nautical Lane. When firefighters arrived, several neighbors and the owner were trying to extinguish the fire with garden hoses.

One of those men received burns to his head and arms, the Fire Marshal said, as well as respiratory complications. He was taken by helicopter to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury in stable condition.

Investigators classified the cause of the fire as unknown. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office at 410-289-8780.

Ocean City police arrested 10 people during a massive fight involving hundreds of people that broke out at bar closing on May 3.

According to reports, the fight broke out at 2 a.m. in the parking lot of a midtown nightclub and several hundred people were involved in the altercation.

More than 23 police officers from the Ocean City Police Department, including three K9 teams, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office and the Maryland State Police were needed to disperse the crowd. During the incident, an OCPD K9 handler was allegedly assaulted and the dog bit one of the combative individuals, police said.

Four police officers received minor injuries during the incident, and three suspects were taken to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin with minor injuries. Arrested were:

Ronnapheck Pherhnanh, 27, of Selbyville, Del., was charged with trespassing.

Taronn Rounds, 27, of Bishopville, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of police officer and obstructing and hindering.

Kimberly Duffy, 21, of Berlin, was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing and hindering.

Byron Briddell, 21, of Berlin, was charged with second-degree assault.

Tikishia Briddell, 23, of Berlin, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of police officer.

Brontya Salter, 21, of Salisbury, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer and obstructing and hindering.

Glenn White, 21, of Berlin, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer and resisting arrest.

Sheena Handy, 24, of Selbyville, Del., was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer.

Tanisha Baine, 25, of Berlin, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer, disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property.

Bruce Planter, 25, of Berlin, was charged with failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer, malicious destruction of property, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of paraphernalia, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of second-degree assault on a police officer. He was held on a $75,000 bond at the Worcester County Jail.

The Maryland State Police arrested a Snow Hill man on an outstanding warrant on May 5, and when his girlfriend tried to interfere, she too was arrested.

Kenneth Foreman, 18, was arrested on a warrant from Somerset County. His 15-year-old girlfriend was charged with disorderly conduct, hindering and failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer.

Maryland State Police assigned to the Shore Criminal Observation Uniform Team (SCOUT) stopped Foreman and his girlfriend who were riding bicycles on Market Street in Snow Hill for traffic violations, reports said. A check revealed Foreman’s outstanding warrant.

While police were arresting Foreman, his girlfriend refused to stay back from the situation and started yelling profanities at the officers, according to reports.

A 21-year-old man was arrested by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office on May 5, after drugs were found in his car during a traffic stop.

Christopher Todd Lewis of Berlin was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and possession of paraphernalia.

Police stopped Lewis's car for allegedly traveling south in the northbound lane of Flower Street in Berlin, and detected the odor of suspected marijuana inside.

Police found approximately 149 grams of suspected marijuana, four grams of suspected cocaine and a digital scale in the car. A large amount of cash was found in the suspect's pocket.

Lewis was held at the Worcester County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Ocean City police arrested a 27-year-old man on April 28 for stealing prescription drugs from a resort pharmacy.

Brandon Lee Peeples of Ocean City was charged with second-, third- and fourth-degree burglary, malicious destruction of property, theft under $500 and multiple counts of possession of prescription drugs.

An Ocean City volunteer firefighter was on his way home around 3 a.m., when he saw someone inside Bailey's Pharmacy on Eighth Street and called police. Police found the glass doors had been broken using a nearby newspaper box.

OCPD K9 Tacko was sent inside the building to search for the suspect and tracked him to a second floor storage area, according to police. While he was tracking the suspect, Tacko fell approximately 10 feet through an open elevator shaft and was treated by a veterinarian for a deep cut over his eye.

Police said Peeples broke into the building, took numerous bottles of prescription pills and hid them in a trash can on the Boardwalk at Ninth Street.

He then returned to get more pills, when the police arrived.

Police also arrested Peeples in May 2007 for attempting to burglarize the same pharmacy, also using a newspaper box to break the glass. In that instance, he cut himself and was tracked by police who followed the blood trail to a nearby apartment.

A woman was taken to the hospital following an April 22 car accident in Ocean Pines, the Maryland State Police reported.

The accident happened at the intersection of Route 589 and Cathell Road.

According to police, Jerome Sachs, 76, of Baltimore, failed to yield to oncoming traffic when making a left turn onto Cathell Road and was struck by Allen Gene Kindley, 71, of Ocean Pines.

Police said Mary Sachs, the front seat passenger in Sachs's vehicle, was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury with serious injuries. Sachs and Kindley were treated at the scene.

The Maryland State Police arrested a Snow Hill man on April 26 after suspected drugs were found in his car during a traffic stop.

Edward Fassitt Carey, 20, was charged with possession of cocaine.

Carey's car was reportedly stopped in the middle of the road and, after learning his driver's license was suspended, police searched the car. According to the police report, a small plastic bag of suspected cocaine was found.

Carey was held at the Worcester County Jail on a $10,000 bond.