OC Police Arrest 58 In 12 Hours

OCEAN CITY - Senior week is in full swing this week, but you don't have to tell that to the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD).

The streets of Ocean City were swarming this week with high school graduates celebrating their recent accomplishments. While some have been behaving and attending the planned Play It Safe events, others have been running afoul of the law and the Ocean City police have been busy keeping them in check.

The OCPD alone made a total of 58 arrests between the hours of 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10 and 7 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11. Of those arrest, 20 were made by plain clothes officers working undercover on the Boardwalk and on municipal buses. According to an OCPD press release, nearly all the plain clothes arrests were made on the south end of the Boardwalk and charges included theft, strong armed robbery, public consumption, disorderly conduct and possession of CDS.

One notable incident of the night on Tuesday was a fight on the Boardwalk on 7^th Street. Shortly after midnight on June 11, officers were dispatched to a fight in progress and arrived on the scene and attempted to arrest two subjects who were involved in the fight. A crowd of approximately 300 to 500 people surrounded the officers and would not back away, according to police reports. Additional manpower was called in to break up the crowd.

Once police swarmed, the crowd flocked north to 9^th Street and another fight broke out and the crowd surrounded the officers again. For a second time, more officers were called in including K-9 and mounted patrol units to break up the crowd of teenagers and young adults and restore order. Three arrests were eventually made for disorderly conduct and fighting.

Throughout the night on Tuesday and early morning hours of Wednesday, 27 of the 58 individuals arrested were charged with drug possession. The remaining individuals were arrested for incidents such as disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, indecent exposure, public consumption and attempting to drive a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. A small number of arrests also came from charges of assault and theft.

Sixteen of the 58 arrested individuals were juveniles and 12 of the arrestees were female. Police reported the 'overwhelming majority of victims and suspects were impaired by drugs and/or alcohol,' according to the OCPD press report.