Cop Assaulter Up To Old Tricks

OCEAN CITY - An Ocean City man is in custody this week facing a slew of charges including indecent exposure and assaulting a police officers after an incident last Saturday that began with a domestic dispute, included exposing himself to a group of juveniles and ended with him spitting on an OCPD officer and grabbing him by his genitals.

Around 8 p.m. last Saturday, an OCPD officer responded to the area of 122^nd Street for a reported indecent exposure. Upon arrival, the officer met with a man later identified as Christopher Lee Fraites, 38, of Ocean City as he crossed Coastal Highway at 122^nd Street. Fraites told police he had confronted a group of kids nearby when they harassed his girlfriend while she waited on a bus stop nearby.

Police then met with a group of juveniles, who told police Fraites was naked and had placed his genitals on the balcony railing and began jumping up and down as he yelled at them. The group of teenagers told police Fraites then went back inside, got dressed and came back out and started throwing glass beer bottles at them from his balcony.

At that point, the juveniles called 911. The girlfriend told police she and Fraites had done nothing wrong and blamed the incident on the juveniles. Fraites was then arrested for indecent exposure and littering for throwing the beer bottles in the street. While Fraites was being taken into custody, he allegedly said to the arresting officer, 'do you want me to spit on you?' and then spit in the officer's face. When the officer attempted to put a seatbelt on the suspect, Fraites allegedly grabbed the officer's genitals and twisted them, according to police reports.

Fraites was then transferred to a cage car by another officer, and what happened next is unclear, but emergency services was called to the booking facility to treat Fraites injuries including a laceration on his head. He was later taken to AGH for further treatment.

Fraites was charged with second-degree assault, a fourth-degree sex offense, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and littering. Last Saturday's incident was not Fraites first run-in with police resulting in charges of assaulting an officer.

In 2001, Fraites was arrested during a fight in a West Ocean City bar, and while Maryland State Police troopers were transporting him to the Berlin barrack for processing, he head-butted one trooper while he was driving, causing him to swerve, kicked and swung at another trooper and yelled racial epithets at another. He was sentenced to a year in jail.