WEST OCEAN CITY – A
Baltimore man with an extensive criminal record and numerous known aliases was
arrested in West Ocean City early Wednesday morning after attempting to deceive
Maryland State Police (MSP) troopers.
Shortly after midnight
on Wednesday, a MSP trooper patrolling in the area of Routes 50 and 611 in West
Ocean City observed a 1991 Acura traveling at a high rate of speed in foggy
conditions. As the trooper attempted to catch up to the vehicle, it turned onto
Route 707 and turned off its lights in an attempt to avoid detection.
The trooper caught up to
the suspected vehicle behind the 707 Bar and Grill and made contact with the
driver, who was found to be intoxicated. The driver was subsequently arrested
for driving under the influence and was transported to the MSP Berlin barrack
for processing. At the Berlin barrack, the suspect, later identified as Terry
Lee Speece, 43, of Baltimore, tried to persuade police he was not Terry Speece,
but rather his brother, Charlie Speece, and presented his brother’s
identification.
Terry Speece continued
to present himself as Charlie Speece and told police someone had stolen the
identity of Terry Speece, whom he claimed was a distant cousin. After hours of
investigation, including contact with family members, friends and allied police
departments, it was learned the suspect in custody was indeed Terry Speece, who
was ultimately identified by a previous Delaware State Police arrest photo.
After he was confronted
with the information, Speece admitted he was utilizing his brother’s
identification. Further investigation revealed Speece had two open warrants
including one from Dorchester County for providing fictitious information about
his identity to the sheriff, and another from the Annue Arundel County Police
Department for second-degree escape.
Speece was taken into
custody and charged with numerous traffic offenses, providing false information
to police, hindering a police investigation and the two outstanding warrants
from Dorchester and Anne Arundel Counties. He was taken before a District Court
Commissioner and ordered held on a $50,000 bond.
Juvenile Injured In
Single-Car Accident
BERLIN – A 17-year-old
juvenile from Berlin was injured last week when his vehicle left the roadway on
Route 346 near St. Martin’s Road and overturned in a field.
Around 5:45 p.m. last
Sunday, MSP troopers responded to the area of Route 346 and St. Martin’s Rd.
for a reported single-vehicle accident. Upon arrival on the scene, the troopers
found a 1985 Volkswagen overturned in a field nearby. A 17-year-old juvenile
from Berlin was the operator of the overturned vehicle.
The investigation
revealed the juvenile was traveling above the posted speed limit and lost
control of the vehicle, which left the roadway and overturned in the field.
Rescue personnel from the Berlin Fire Department responded and rendered aid to
the victim, who was ultimately transported to Atlantic General Hospital with
minor injuries and was eventually released. The juvenile has been charged with
exceeding the posted speed limit, negligent driving and failure to reduce speed
to avoid a collision.
Attempted Murder Case
Forwarded To Circuit
SNOW HILL – An Ocean
City man arrested in April on attempted murder charges after allegedly attacking
his girlfriend with a knife had his case forwarded to Worcester County Circuit
Court last week.
Ronald Flawd, 44,
appeared in District Court for a preliminary hearing last week, during which it
was determined there was sufficient evidence to move the case to Circuit Court.
Flawd is being held in the Worcester County Jail and has an arraignment and initial
appearance set for June 9.
Around 12:30 a.m. on
April 5, the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) was dispatched to a residence
on Sunset Drive in the 26th Street area to assist Ocean City EMS
personnel with a woman whose arm was allegedly broken. Upon arrival, the OCPD
officer met with a man later identified as Flawd, who told police his
girlfriend’s arm might be broken because she slipped and fell.
The officer met with the
victim, who was reportedly lying on a couch, clutching her right arm to her
body and crying. The victim told police she had come home to the apartment and
got into an argument with Flawd. According to the witness’s statement, Flawd was
intoxicated and accused her of being unfaithful to him. The victim told police
Flawd grabbed her by the throat and pushed her onto the couch.
When the victim got up,
Flawd grabbed her right arm and slammed it into the couch, almost causing her
arm to break at the elbow. According to police reports, at that point, Flawd
allegedly grabbed the victim by the throat and began to strangle her. According
to police reports, Flawd then threw the victim back onto the couch, reached
into the kitchen area about two feet away and grabbed a kitchen knife.
Flawd then stood over
the victim, who was now lying on her back on the couch, and told her “you’re
going to die tonight,” according to police reports. The victim told police
Flawd then tried to stab her in the chest with the kitchen knife, but she was
able to deflect the stab with her hands and in doing so, received a slash wound
across the palm of her hand.
The victim told police
Flawd then became upset and remorseful. He offered to call an ambulance for the
victim on the condition she lie about how she received her injuries. The victim
told Flawd she would tell paramedics and police she received her injuries from
a fall, according to police reports. The victim later told police the reason
she agreed to lie about how she sustained her injuries was because Flawd would
not call for help otherwise, according to police reports.
The victim told police
Flawd tried to hurriedly clean up any blood before paramedics and police
arrived, however, his clean-up efforts were unsuccessful. The officer said in
his report there was a slashing wound on the victim’s palm and there were
smears of blood on her forearm. The officer also noticed drops of blood were
splattered around the floor of the apartment.
The officer also noticed
smears of blood on a blanket and a shirt, which Flawd used to try to clean up
her wounds, according to the victim’s statement. The officer also noticed
redness and swelling around the victim’s neck and upper chest. The victim could
not extend her right arm fully and kept it clutched close to her body.
There was another male
individual in the apartment that corroborated much of the victim’s story. The
witness told police Flawd and the victim had gotten into an argument and Flawd
tried to strangle her to the point she turned blue. The witness told police
Flawd tried to break the victim’s arm against the sofa before trying to stab
her with the kitchen knife.
Based on the testimony
of the victim and the witness, Flawd was arrested and charged with attempted
first- and second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count
of second-degree assault, and using a dangerous weapon with intent to injure.
Accident Leads To DWI
Arrest
OCEAN CITY – Two
Montgomery County men were arrested, one for driving under the influence and
the other for underage drinking, after an accident in Ocean City last weekend.
Around 4:30 p.m. last
Thursday, a MSP trooper working a traffic enforcement detail in Ocean City
because of the annual Cruisin’ event responded to a two-car accident in the
area of 28th Street and Baltimore Ave. The driver of one of the
vehicles, identified as Daniel Rodriguez Cabrera, 20, of Montgomery Village,
Md., was administered field sobriety tests and failed to complete them to the
satisfaction of the trooper.
Cabrera was subsequently
arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and a breath test
administered later revealed he was above the .08 maximum allowed in Maryland.
While the officer was investigating the accident, he made contact with the
passenger in Cabrera’s vehicle, identified as Kevin Kim, 20, of Gaithersburg,
and found him to be intoxicated as well.
Because he was under the
legal age of 21, Kim was issued a citation and released. Cabrera was arrested
and charged with driving while intoxicated. He was taken before a District
Court Commissioner and was ordered held on a secured $10,000 bond.
Stet Docket For Pot Raid
Suspect
OCEAN CITY – An Ocean
City man arrested on marijuana possession charges after a raid on a mid-town
restaurant in February had the charges against him placed on the stet, or
inactive, docket this week in District Court.
On Feb. 20, the OCPD
narcotics unit concluded a one-year undercover investigation involving
employees of a local bar with the acquisition of a search and seizure warrant
for the establishment. Just prior to serving the warrant, OCPD officers
observed a juvenile employee leave the establishment in a vehicle and conducted
a traffic stop, during which a half a pound of marijuana was recovered. The
juvenile was arrested at that time.
At approximately 8 p.m.,
uniformed OCPD patrol officers along with some undercover narcotics detectives
served a search and seizure warrant on the restaurant. During the search,
several items of drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana were located
and recovered in the kitchen area in plain view. As a result, a second employee
identified as Paul Kirk Garrett, 41, of Ocean City, was also arrested.
Later that evening, OCPD
narcotics detectives, working in conjunction with members of the Worcester
County Criminal Enforcement Team, went to the juvenile suspect’s West Ocean
City residence and recovered roughly a half-pound of marijuana. In all, roughly
one pound of marijuana was seized along with associated paraphernalia and currency.
The juvenile’s vehicle was also seized.
Garrett was charged with
possession of marijuana and was released on his own recognizance. The juvenile
was charged with two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to
distribute and possession of paraphernalia and was released to the custody of a
legal guardian.
The restaurant’s
management reportedly terminated those involved in the case following the
incident. This week in District Court, the charges against Garrett were placed
on the stet docket.
Child Offense Case
Forwarded To Circuit
OCEAN CITY – A Baltimore
man arrested in April after the OCPD was able to link him to alleged child sex
crimes in the resort dating back to 2008 made an initial appearance in court
last week and had his case forwarded to Circuit Court.
In April, the OCPD
concluded a month-long child sex offense investigation stemming from a referral
from the Worcester County Department of Social Services (WCDSS). Detectives,
working in conjunction with the WCDSS, concluded during the spring of 2008, the
suspect, identified as James Sean Bennett, 42, of Baltimore, came to Ocean City
with a 15-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy.
While staying at a
hotel, Bennett allegedly provided the female victim with numerous alcoholic
beverages. While in Ocean City, the female victim was sexually assaulted.
During the investigation, OCPD detectives learned Bennett had recently been
indicted by a Baltimore County grand jury for an unrelated case involving
multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor and attempted second-degree rape
involving an unrelated female.
Last week, Bennett
appeared in District Court where it was determined there was sufficient
evidence to forward the case against him to Circuit Court. He is scheduled for
arraignment on June 9.
Heavy Fines For DUI,
Weapons
OCEAN CITY – A Fruitland
man arrested in April after being found with a knife and a baseball bat
following a traffic stop was found guilty this week in District Court on
multiple charges and as fined over $500.
Around 2:20 a.m. on
April 25, an OCPD officer traveling north on Philadelphia Ave. near Upshur
Street observed a 2000 Chevy Malibu traveling north on the sidewalk adjacent to
Philadelphia Ave. The vehicle then entered Philadelphia Ave. and accelerated east
onto Upshur, striking the curb. The vehicle continued through the parking lot,
striking a landscaped median and continued south through the parking lot.
The vehicle then drove
over a sidewalk onto 20th Street, crossed the street and struck
another curb on the south side of 20th Street. The vehicle drove up
on the sidewalk on the south side of 20th Street and came to rest in
a yard. The officer circled the block and arrived at the scene where he
encountered the driver, later identified as Peter R. Battle, 24, of Fruitland,
who appeared to be passed out in the driver’s seat.
When Battle got out of
the vehicle, the officer immediately recognized him as the same man he had
encountered five minutes earlier leaving a downtown nightclub. According to
police reports, Battle displayed poor balance as he walked toward the OCPD
officers, who handcuffed and detained him.
According to police
reports, Battle became extremely emotional and began to cry. The officers
attempted to administer field sobriety tests, but Battle could not stand on his
own. He was then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
During a search of the
vehicle prior to it being towed from the scene, OCPD officers located a
butterfly knife wedged between the driver’s seat and the center console. On the
floor of the front passenger side of the vehicle, police located an aluminum baseball
bat partially covered with a sweatshirt and a bandana. He was later
administered a breath-alcohol content test which returned a result of .14.
This
week in District Court, Battle was found guilty of driving under the influence
per se and was fined $500. He was also found guilty of carrying a concealed
weapon and was fined $100. He was also fined $40 for driving on the sidewalk.