City Police Record 112 Drug Arrests In A Week

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City
police had a busy week with illegal narcotics investigations, recording well
over 100 drug arrests, ranging from simple possession to larger scale
distribution, marking a sign of the season in the summer resort.

With thousands of recent
graduates in the resort, along with countless other visitors, Ocean City Police
Department (OCPD) in the last week or so have stepped up their aggressive
campaign to stop illegal drug sales and use with usual results. During the
one-week period that ended on Tuesday, the OCPD recorded 112 controlled
dangerous substance-related arrests with its aggressive buy-bust campaign in
areas traditionally known for drug dealing in the resort.

'At all times of the
year, but especially at this time of year, we're being very aggressive in the
pursuit and arrest of those attempting to deal drugs in Ocean City,' said OCPD
Public Information Officer Mike Levy. 'We're being extremely vigilant about the
sale and purchase of narcotics on our streets and on the Boardwalk in
particular.'

Levy said the OCPD wages
a year-long battle against illegal narcotics in the resort, but the efforts are
stepped up during the summer season when the activity typically reaches a peak.

'It's all in the
interest in keeping Ocean City free of narcotics,' he said. 'If you are a
citizen or visitor to this town and you're dealing drugs, you're probably going
to encounter one or more of our many undercover narcotics officers.'

For example, last
Thursday, three men, one of whom had sold heroin and cocaine to an undercover
officer on different occasions in the week prior, were arrested on various
charges after consummating a deal with an OCPD detective in a vehicle in the 10^th
Street area. Around 3:45 p.m., the undercover officer made contact via cell
phone with a dealer he had been tracking since May seeking to buy $100 worth of
heroin and $50 worth of crack cocaine.

The suspected dealer,
identified as Ricky Comegys, 39, of Baltimore, told the undercover officer he
was leaving Salisbury and would contact him when he got to Ocean City. Around
5:30 p.m., Comegys called the officer and told him he would meet in the area of
10^th Street shortly. When Comegys arrived, he had two other individuals
in the vehicle with him, later identified as Donya Irish Dewitt, 39, of
Baltimore, and Reginald Lamar Jenkins, Jr., 29, of Salisbury.

The undercover officer
had targeted Comegys since May and had arranged similar drug buys on June 4 and
June 5. Following his arrest last Thursday, Comegys was charged with possession
and distribution of cocaine and heroin. Jenkins and Dewitt were both charged
with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin.

Last Friday, two
undercover OCPD detectives working in the area of Sunset and Judlee avenues
attempted to purchase narcotics from individuals in the area. The officers
approached an individual, later identified as Kyle Everhart Pennington, 22, of
Sykesville, and asked about purchasing 'white girl,' which is street slang for
powder cocaine.

Pennington told the
officers he had a $55 bag of cocaine to sell them and the officers told the
suspect they needed to get some money to make the purchase. Pennington told the
officers he would meet them at the corner of Bayshore Drive and Judlee when
they had the money for the purchase. A short time later, the undercover
officers met Pennington again and told him to get in the back of their vehicle.
After the deal was completed, Pennington got out of the vehicle and was immediately
taken into custody.

On Saturday, undercover
OCPD officers were working a buy-bust detail in the area of St. Louis Ave. when
they approached two individuals and inquired about purchasing marijuana. The
two suspects, later identified as Zachary R. Wittman and Kyler Killian, both 19
and both of Middletown, Pa., walked to a vehicle parked directly in front of
the undercover officers' vehicle.

Wittman and Killian
handed the agreed upon amount of pot to the undercover officers through the
window of their vehicle. Two uniformed officers then arrested Killian and
Wittman without incident. Killian was charged with possession and distribution
of marijuana, while Wittman was charged with conspiracy to distribute
marijuana. A search of their vehicle turned up an unknown quantity of weed and
a digital scale.

Last Thursday, an OCPD
officer on uniformed bike patrol observed a vehicle heading south on St. Louis
Ave. with a taillight flashing on and off, suggesting it had a loose wire. The
officer pulled over the vehicle and approached the driver's side door when he
observed the driver, identified as Brendin Wessman, 25, of Berlin, and the
passenger, Robert Lee Francisco, 20, of Georgetown, Del., attempting to conceal
something near the passenger's hip and front left pocket.

The officer called for
backup and a K-9 search revealed ecstasy, methadone and marijuana in amounts
suggesting distribution, along with currency packaged in such a way to suggest
distribution.