Man Injured While Thwarting Suicide

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City Police last week handled a potentially dicey situation when a suicidal man cut another man who had intervened with a knife.

Around 1:15 a.m. last Wednesday, police and paramedics responded to a unit at the Jockey Beach Club on 123rd Street in reference to an individual injured with a knife. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and located a female and two males, one of which was bleeding from an injury to his hand.

The injured male initially told police the cut on his hand was the result of a cooking accident. While police were in the unit, the second male, who appeared to be very intoxicated, became belligerent and uncooperative according to police reports. While paramedics were treating the injured man in an ambulance prior to taking him to the hospital, the victim’s girlfriend met with police in the parking lot and indicated her boyfriend had not been injured in a cooking accident, but rather the victim’s injury was actually sustained during a struggle with the intoxicated male.

The probe revealed the angry man still in the unit had become upset after having a telephone conversation with an estranged girlfriend. The victim then discovered the suspect attempting to cut his wrists with a knife. When the victim tried to stop the suicide attempt and wrestle the knife away, his thumb was cut.

Uncertain of the volatile situation, police set up a perimeter around the unit and attempted to make contact with the suicidal male. Officers eventually entered the unit and took the suspect into custody without further incident. The man was taken to PRMC for an emergency medical evaluation. Because no charges have been filed, the OCPD is not releasing the names of the involved parties.