OCEAN CITY — Ocean City police have charged a Pennsylvania man with two armed robberies in the north end of the resort in late January after locating the suspect in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
The first armed robbery occurred around 10 p.m. on Jan. 28 in a parking lot in the area of 79th Street and Coastal Highway. The second armed robbery occurred about 30 minutes later at a municipal bus stop near 138th Street and Coastal Highway. In both incidents, the victims were able to provide a similar description of the suspect and told police he pointed a silver semi-automatic handgun at them during the commission of the crimes.
In the second incident, the victim, a nearby convenience store employee, reported she was waiting for a bus on the southbound bus stop on Coastal Highway at 138th Street when she was approached by a white male who demanded her cell phone and money. The victim described the suspect as a white male around 6-feet tall with a medium build who was wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask with eye and mouth holes.
Through investigation, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) Criminal Investigation Division Major Crimes Unit detectives identified possible suspects from the Elizabethtown, Pa. area. Last week, OCPD detectives traveled to Pennsylvania and determined the pair of robberies had been carried out by Christopher Jones-Rivera, 18, of Elizabethtown, Pa.
OCPD detectives applied for a multitude of charges against Jones-Rivera including three counts of armed robbery, three counts of using a firearm while committing a violent felony, three counts each of first- and second-degree assault and two counts of theft.
A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody on Wednesday with assistance from the Elizabethtown Police Department. Jones-Rivera as of late Wednesday was being held in the Lancaster County Prison awaiting extradition to Maryland.
