Shoplifting Leads To Drugs
OCEAN CITY — A Frankford, Del. man was arrested last week on theft and drug charges after an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer allegedly observed him swiping cheese sticks from a north-end convenience store.
Around 1:40 a.m. last Thursday, an OCPD officer on uniformed patrol inside the Wawa store at 120th Street observed a suspect, later identified as Devin Morin, 35, of Frankford, park and enter the store. The officer observed Morin allegedly walk up to a display case and grab some cheese sticks before continuing around the store picking up other items.
According to police reports, the officer lost sight of Morin, but when the suspect reappeared and went to check out, his items on the counter for check out did not include the cheese sticks. Morin then allegedly paid for his items and left the store and got back in his vehicle. The officer asked the clerk if Morin had purchased any cheese sticks, but the employee said he had not.
The officer then approached Morin at his vehicle and asked about the cheese sticks, but Morin first said he had paid for them and then said he had forgotten to pay for them. The officer asked Morin if there was anything else he forgot to pay for and the suspect produced a candy bar. Morin consented to a search of his person, which turned up Suboxone packets and packets of heroin in his wallet. Morin was arrested and charged with theft under $100 and possession of controlled dangerous substances.
Theft, Assault Charges
OCEAN CITY — A Washington, D.C. woman was arrested on theft and assault charges last week after allegedly failing to pay a cab fare and then scrapping with Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers attempting to arrest her.
Around 8:20 p.m. last Thursday, OCPD officers responded to a north-end hotel in reference to disorderly individuals. Ocean City Police Communications informed the officers a couple had been arguing on the fifth floor of the hotel and the female had left and was walking in the parking lot. OCPD officers located the female, identified as Theresa Kelley, 30, of Washington, D.C., in the parking lot of a convenience store across the street stumbling and talking to herself, according to police reports.
An OCPD officer stopped Kelly to check on her welfare and she reportedly told police she had just bought a house in Ocean City and had been celebrating the achievement. When asked where she was staying, Kelly reportedly told police she was staying at the hotel across the street with her husband. According to police reports, Kelly at the time was polite and cooperative and she was sent on her way.
About a half an hour later, an OCPD officer was in the lobby of the hotel when Kelly entered. She was followed by a resort cab driver, who told police Kelly did not pay her $12 fare. According to police reports, Kelly refused to stop and pushed past the OCPD officers toward the elevators. OCPD officer detained her and she pulled away as they attempted to put handcuffs on here, according to police reports. At that point, Kelly was arrested for theft under $100.
According to police reports, as Kelly was being escorted to a patrol vehicle, she continued to resist, thrashing around and launching into an expletive-laced tirade while passersby observed the scene. As multiple officers attempted to put Kelly in a transport vehicle, she continued to resist, thrashing her legs and kicking an OCPD officer three times in the leg and groin area. Kelly was ultimately charged with theft, second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Victim, Toddler Injured
OCEAN CITY — A Berlin man was arrested on assault and other charges last weekend after allegedly pushing his girlfriend and forcefully grabbing the couple’s 16-month-old son before walking away from an Ocean City apartment with the child in sub-freezing temperatures.
Around 7:50 p.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer was dispatched to a residence on 139th Street for a reported assault that had already occurred. The officer met with the female victim who told police she had been out for the evening with her long-time boyfriend, identified as Kirk Torre, 46, of Berlin, and two girlfriends when the couple had a verbal argument that reportedly started when the suspect attempted to hold hands with one of the victim’s friends in the back of a vehicle on a return trip from a bar.
The verbal argument escalated when Torre allegedly shoved the victim and “smushed her face,” before forcefully snatching the 16-month toddler and walking down the street in 30-degree weather. The victim was injured during the altercation, as was the toddler, who had a raised knot and scratches on his forehead from hitting his head on the rough hallway surface during the alleged confrontation. Torre was charged with second-degree assault and also theft for allegedly taking the victim’s cell phone.
Credit Card Thief Gets 18 Months
SNOW HILL — An Ocean Pines woman, charged in December with multiple counts of theft after allegedly swiping her mother’s credit card and using it to make purchases, plead guilty last week and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
In late December, a 70-year-old Ocean Pines woman reported her credit cards stolen. The victim told police her stolen credit cards had been used at the Wal-Mart on Route 50 in Berlin. An Ocean Pines Police officer reviewed surveillance video at the Wal-Mart.
Store management provided police with pictures of a female wearing a red jacket using the victim’s stolen credit card to purchase, among other things, a flat-screen television. The victim was then able to positively identify the suspect as her daughter, Heather Lynn Camp, 43, of Ocean Pines.
Camp was charged with two counts of theft of credit cards and three counts of charging a stolen credit card less than $500. Last week, she pleaded guilty to stealing another’s credit card and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Jail Time For Knife Threat
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man arrested in September on first-degree assault charges after allegedly threatening his parents with a kitchen knife while intoxicated pleaded guilty last week to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to seven days in jail.
Around 8:50 p.m. on Sept. 14, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a residence on Nautical Lane for a reported domestic incident involving a knife threat. OCPD Communications told the responding officers Dominic Jeppi, 22, of Ocean City, had allegedly threatened his parents with a knife. The mother had locked herself in a bathroom and called police after Jeppi allegedly threatened her and her husband with a kitchen knife during a domestic disturbance.
When police arrived, they met with the victims who said Jeppi was still inside in his bedroom, but that he had returned the knife to the kitchen. When police interviewed Jeppi, he reportedly downplayed the incident and told officers his mother had overreacted and that the incident did not require the police. The officers noted apparently intoxicated and did not comprehend the seriousness of the situation and the dangerous circumstances he created.
Police then interviewed the mother, who said Jeppi had come home around 5 p.m. in an agitated state and was acting as if he was drunk or on drugs. The victim said Jeppi continued to drink at home and became verbally abusive toward her. When her husband interceded and tried to calm the situation and told Jeppi to apologize to his mother, Jeppi allegedly through a TV remote at his father.
At that point, Jeppi allegedly took a knife from the kitchen where he was preparing food and entered a bedroom where his mother had retreated. According to police reports, Jeppi advanced toward his mother waiving the knife while laughing. Jeppi then returned to the kitchen and waived the knife in a threatening manner toward his father. The mother than retreated to a bathroom and locked herself in before calling police.
Based on the evidence, Jeppi was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure and reckless endangerment. Last week, Jeppi pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to six months with all but seven days suspended.