Assault On Girlfriend

Assault On Girlfriend
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OCEAN CITY – A Pottstown, Pa. man was arrested on assault charges last weekend after allegedly attacking his girlfriend and fracturing one of the vertebrae in her neck.

Around 4:30 a.m. last Saturday, Ocean City police responded to the Seascape Motel on 15th Street for an unknown disturbance. The investigation revealed a couple staying at the motel had been involved in a domestic argument prior to the arrival of the police. Officers learned earlier in the evening the victim and her male companion had been out to an area nightclub and became intoxicated.

Once back at the motel, the couple allegedly had an argument during which the male, later identified as Jeffery Robert Martin, 25, of Pottstown, Pa., assaulted the female victim. While at the scene, OCPD officers noted the victim was complaining of neck pain. She was transported to AGH where it was later determined she had suffered a fracture in one of the vertebrae in her neck as a result of the altercation.

Based on the victim’s injuries, Martin was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He was seen by an Ocean City District Court Commissioner, who ordered him held on a $200,000 bond. He was later transferred to the Worcester County Jail.

Gun Sale Thwarted

OCEAN CITY – A Marion, Md. man was arrested on weapons possession and firearm charges this week after a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed he was about to sell an illegal handgun at the Inlet parking lot in Ocean City.

On Monday, members of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Enforcement Team arrested Larry Joseph Koontz, 23, of Marion, Md., in reference to an ongoing firearm investigation. Through the investigation, the criminal enforcement team planned to proceed to the Inlet parking lot for the purpose of selling a handgun to another individual.

The criminal enforcement team located Koontz at the Inlet parking lot as planned and found him to be in possession of a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Koontz was arrested and charged with possession of a handgun and possession of a regulated weapon.

The Ocean City Police Department assisted the Sheriff’s criminal enforcement team during the arrest. Koontz was later released on his own recognizance. A preliminary court date has been set for September 25.

Alleged Sex Offender Sought

WEST OCEAN CITY – Maryland State Police this week are looking for a suspect who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at a West Ocean City hotel.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m. last Saturday, Maryland State Police troopers responded to a West Ocean City hotel to investigate an alleged sexual assault that had taken place near a playground on the resort’s grounds. The victim told troopers she was having a conversation with the suspect when she was touched inappropriately.

The victim told police she was standing outside the hotel near the playground area when the suspect approached her. According to police reports, while the victim and the suspect were engaged in small talk, the suspect started groping the victim, touching private parts of her body.

The victim told police she told the suspect his advances were unacceptable and she was able to walk away from the suspect. The 18-year-old victim immediately notified family members of the incident and they, in turn, called the state police. The suspect was not immediately located on Saturday and remains at large. He is described as an African-American male in his late teens, roughly 6-feet tall with a muscular build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a white T-shirt, blue shorts and a blue bandana. Anyone with knowledge of the incident or the suspect is urged to call the MSP Berlin barrack at 410-641-3101.

Why Go Back For Smokes?

BERLIN – A Berlin man had marijuana possession charges tacked onto a DUI arrest last week after asking police to go back to his vehicle to retrieve his cigarettes.

Around 2:30 a.m. last Friday, Maryland State Police troopers stopped a 1998 Ford Ranger in the area of Routes 113 and 346 when the driver, later identified as James Patrick Sullivan, 20, of Berlin, failed to stop for a uniformed police officer who as blocking traffic. Upon contact with Sullivan, troopers immediately detected a strong odor of alcohol emanating from his breath.

Based on Sullivan’s performance on field sobriety tests, he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. After he was taken into custody, Sullivan asked the troopers to retrieve his cigarettes from his truck. While looking for the cigarettes, troopers located a metal smoking device with marijuana residue.

In the end, Sullivan was charged with driving under the influence, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. He was transported to the Ocean City District Court Commissioners’ Office and was later released on his own recognizance.

Two Off To Jail For Car Theft

OCEAN CITY – Two Baltimore men arrested in July for motor vehicle theft and other charges after Ocean City police observed one of them urinating in public were both sent to jail this week, although one will be staying longer than the other.

On July 7, plainclothes officers working in the area of 12th Street and Baltimore Ave. observed two suspicious men trying to open door handles on vehicles. As the officers approached the suspects, one of them began to urinate on the public street behind a parked car. The officers stopped the suspects, later identified as John Albert Saffran, 18, and Richard William Delauder, 25, both of Baltimore.

While writing Saffran a civil citation for public urination, the officers began to search the area behind the vehicle where the suspect was standing and recovered several items on the ground near the driver’s and passenger’s side doors. The items included several CD holders and Ipod chargers. After checking the area, the officers were able to determine the items had come from a vehicle where the two suspects had been previously observed.

As officers were placing the two suspects under arrest for suspected thefts from vehicles, Saffran told police he had “found” a set of car keys on the ground. The officers were able to use the “found” keys to locate the vehicle they belonged to nearby. The officers were then able to discover the vehicle to which the keys belonged had been reported stolen a day earlier in Anne Arundel County on July 6.

Officers continued their investigation and ended up charging both Saffran and Delauder with motor vehicle theft, multiple counts of theft and multiple counts of rogue and vagabond. This week in District Court, Saffran pleaded guilty to one count of rogue and vagabond and one count of theft under $500 and was sentenced to one year in jail, 10 months of which was suspended. He was also fined $500, ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution, and placed on probation for three years.

Delauder also appeared in District Court on Tuesday and was treated more severely. Delauder also pleaded guilty to one count of rogue and vagabond and one count of theft under $500, but he was sentenced to three years for the former charge and 18 months for the latter. Delauder was also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.

New Conviction For Local Doc

SNOW HILL – An Ocean City doctor arrested in March for cocaine and paraphernalia possession along with numerous traffic offenses, after a two-pattern of similar arrests, was back in District Court this week to face the latest charges and pleaded guilty to driving on a revoked license, but again avoided any jail time.

On March 5, a Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped Jock Simon, a local doctor with a previous practice in Ocean City, in the area of Route 12 near Whiton Rd. Simon was ultimately arrested for possession of cocaine, possession of paraphernalia and driving on a revoked license. This week, he pleaded guilty to the latter charge and was sentenced to 10 days in jail, all of which was suspended, and was fined $300, which was also suspended. The possession charges were not prosecuted as part of the plea arrangement.

Simon’s arrest in March and subsequent conviction this week closed the latest chapter in his long pattern of illegal drug use and other sordid activities. Around 4:30 p.m. last Sept. 19, a Maryland State Police (MSP) trooper stopped Jock Simon, a local doctor with a practice in Ocean City, on Route 50 in Berlin after receiving a call from a concerned citizen about a potentially intoxicated driver. The trooper responded and pulled Simon over after observing his vehicle straddling the line between the slow lane and the shoulder.

As a second trooper was approaching the stopped vehicle, he observed Simon throw a glass-smoking device out of the passenger side window. Simon was arrested and charged with driving on a suspended license and various drug charges. In July in Circuit Court, Simon pleaded guilty to the driving on a suspended license charge and was sentenced to six months in jail, all of which was suspended in favor of probation and a $500 fine. He also pleaded guilty to the possession of paraphernalia charge and was fined an additional $100.

Simon’s arrest in Worcester last September continued a long pattern of similar incidents over a period of about two years. For example, in May 2007, Simon was arrested on crack cocaine possession charges after a routine traffic stop in Wicomico. Those charges were eventually dropped. In May 2008, Simon was arrested again in Wicomico after an MSP trooper observed his vehicle crossing the double yellow line.

When asked to step out of the vehicle, Simon dropped a pink piece of paper on the ground that turned out to be a dry cleaning receipt with a rock of crack cocaine wrapped inside. Simon went to trial for that incident in April and was found guilty of possession of cocaine. He was sentenced to two years in jail with all but 20 days suspended.

Simon’s checkered past ultimately led to the suspension of his license to practice medicine. Last Oct. 20, Simon was brought in for review by the Maryland Board of Physicians and was questioned about his arrests for possession of crack cocaine and paraphernalia in May 2007, May 2008 and September 2008. According to the board’s report, Simon claimed the drugs and paraphernalia in his possession at the time of his arrests did not belong to him, but rather his girlfriend, whom he refused to identify during the hearing.

However, in September 2008, before Simon’s hearing in front of the physician’s board, board staffers interviewed a female witness at the Worcester County Jail who gave some insight into Simon’s alleged activities. Based on Simon’s recent arrests at various times for possession of crack cocaine and paraphernalia, and the extensive amount of detail into his alleged activities provided by the witness, presumably his girlfriend, the Board decided last Nov. 5, “The respondent’s license should be summarily suspended because his continued practice presents an imminent risk of harm to patients.

On The Loose Again

SNOW HILL – A Berlin man arrested in May after a routine seat belt stop revealed he was already wanted in Maryland failed to appear for a hearing this week in District Court and had a new warrant sworn out for his arrest.

On May 27, while monitoring traffic for seat belt violations during “Click It or Ticket” month, a Berlin Police officer observed a green Honda Accord traveling north on Route 113 with its operator not wearing his seatbelt. During the subsequent traffic stop, the operator, later found to be Terrance F. Collins, 45, of Berlin, gave the officer a false name and date of birth.

Police finally obtained his true identity and found his license to be suspended in two states and that he was wanted in Maryland for the past two years for drug and traffic charges. Collins was taken into custody without incident and was later released after posting a $10,000 bond. He was scheduled to appear in District Court on Tuesday, failed to show up and had a renewed warrant sworn out for his arrest.

First Of Two Assault Cases Resolved

OCEAN CITY – One of two men arrested in July on assault and other charges during an incident at Coastal Highway and Jamestown Rd. after a crowd let out from an uptown bar received probation before judgment this week in District Court while the second was arraigned last week on serious charges in Circuit Court.

Shortly after 2 a.m. on July 15, an OCPD bicycle officer on routine patrol observed a man, later identified as Jeffery Allen Lyles, Jr., 23, of Salisbury, assaulting another man on Jamestown Rd. Lyles was eventually arrested and charged with second-degree assault. However, numerous individuals remained in the area of Jamestown Rd. and Coastal Highway and more OCPD officers were called to the scene as the crowd became increasingly larger and more defiant.

The police were eventually able to break up the crowd, but not before making a second arrest, charging Darian Lamar Waters, 21, of Snow Hill, with second-degree assault of a police officer and failure to obey a lawful order.

Lyles appeared in District Court on Wednesday and was found not guilty of the assault charge. He was granted probation before judgment on the disorderly conduct charge and was placed on probation for one year and fined $100. Waters, meanwhile, was arraigned in Circuit Court last week and is scheduled to appear for trial on Oct. 7.