OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man faces a slew of charges this month after his girlfriend was injured while attempting to get out of a moving vehicle during an argument over his alleged past cheating.
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, OCPD officers responded to a motel on 27th Street to check on the welfare of a female victim. The officers arrived and located a female victim standing with the security guard. The victim upper and lower lips were swollen with lacerations and she had abrasions on her ankle and hand. The victim told police she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, identified as Christopher Clarke, 27, of East Stroudsberg, Pa.
The victim said she and Clarke had been out to dinner at a midtown restaurant when they began arguing over his alleged past cheating. The argument continued as the couple left the restaurant and went to a nearby 7-11 convenience store. The victim told police Clarke grabbed the back of her head and hair and pushed her head into her knee.
According to police reports, the victim was scared and attempted to leave the vehicle. As she was trying to exit the vehicle, Clarke allegedly put it in reverse and backed up, preventing her from getting out. The victim said she fell and hit her face on the parking lot. The officer observed the victim’s front left tooth was chipped along with the other injuries already observed.
The victim told police she ultimately got back in the vehicle and the couple returned to their motel on 27th Street where the argument continued. When the victim attempted to call 911, Clarke allegedly disconnected the motel phone from the wall. When the victim attempted to use her cell phone to call 911, Clarke allegedly took it from her and threw it against the wall, breaking it.
The victim told police Clarke then grabbed his suitcase and asked her for a ride back to Pennsylvania. When she refused, Clarke left the room with his suitcase. When the victim checked her purse, she noticed her car keys were missing. The victim followed Clarke to the parking lot where he allegedly threw the vehicle keys into the motel pool. The victim then called her help and the security guard arrived and called 911.
A description of Clarke was broadcast and he was located a short time later walking into another hotel on Baltimore Ave. at 26th Street and was taken into custody. During a search of Clarke’s suitcase, officer recovered a .40 caliber Beretta semi-automatic handgun. There was no magazine in the handgun, but a single round was chambered. Also found in the suitcase were two 10-round magazines, one of which contained eight rounds and other nine rounds.
Also located in the suitcase was six strips of Suboxone, a schedule III drug. When interviewed, Clarke told police a version of the story loosely similar to that of the victim. When asked if he always took his gun with him, he reportedly told police he did when he went to unfamiliar places for protection. Clarke also told police he was prescribed the Suboxone because he had a bad ATV accident that led him to get addicted to oxycodone.
Based on all of the evidence, Clarke was charged with second-degree assault, malicious destruction of property for destroying the phone, illegal possession of a regulated firearm and carrying a handgun on his person.
