Police Plan To Increase Patrols In Wake Of Violence At Ocean City, Maryland Boardwalk; Behavior 'Will Not Be Tolerated'
OCEAN CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- Ocean City police will be increasing patrols along the boardwalk and around town after several violent incidents were reported so far this beach season.
Videos show several incidents along the beach town's boardwalk over the weekend. One video shows a brawl on the boardwalk where a man can be seen beating another man with what looks like a metal pole. Police are seen on camera trying to stop the incident.
Recent Violence On Ocean City, Maryland, Boardwalk Leaves Town Leaders Concerned
[WARNING: We are linking out to some of the videos due to explicit language and violence.]
Another video shows police trying to disperse crowds on the boardwalk. People are seen running away after something is thrown into the crowd. Eyewitnesses say it's a tear gas-like substance, but police have not confirmed what was used.
And in another video, two young men are seen fighting along the boardwalk. Then police are seen chasing them and tackling one suspect and taking another into custody.
The town's police chief released a message Monday saying they would be increasing patrols in light of these violent incidents.
"The kind of behavior we've seen recently will not be tolerated and arrests will be made," Chief Ross Buzzuro said.
This comes as police continue to investigate another incident on the boardwalk from Tuesday, June 9.
Two serious assaults occurred on the boardwalk between 11th and 16th streets sometime between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Police believe the individuals pictured were involved in the incident:
One Ocean City business announced it would be temporarily closing due to the "whole new level of disrespect."
"We have had more than enough this weekend dealing with a whole new level of disrespect to our staff, our business and our town and we are tired of being the brunt of undeserved verbal abuse by the public when ordering and picking up," the Alaska Stand restaurant wrote on Facebook.
Phil Houck with the Bull on the Beach restaurant said he's been in business on the boardwalk for four decades. In recent years, he's started to close early to avoid people who are fighting.
"This year we've been closing around 8, 9 o'clock at night because we know some of the problems will start (around) 9, 10 o'clock on, so to be safe, to keep our employees safe, we actually close early, so we're losing a lot of sales right there," he said.
Despite incidents cropping up in the past, Houck said from his perspective, it's the first year the violence has been so bad.
Anyone who witnessed the assault or who can provide any information as to the identity of the suspects, is asked to contact Detective Perry at CRPerry@oceancitymd.gov or 410-723-6604. Anonymous tips can also be left at https://oceancitymd.gov/oc/departments/police/crime-tips/ or by calling 410-520-5136.
