Rip currents, big beach hazard

Continued from Page 20 cues every summer, and 95 percent of the rescues are rip current-related, Arbin said.

Arbin said rip currents are like a treadmill that moves faster than an Olympic swimmer. Even good swimmers can’t beat the pull of a rip current when they try to swim straight back to the beach.

Arbin also warned less comfortable swimmers against wading into shallow water. If knocked down by a wave, a rip current could still drag a person at knee-to-waist-high depth, Arbin said.

Some of the greatest and most common dangers include panicking, swimming straight against the current and tiring yourself out, Arbin said.

“It’s the panic that really gets people,” Arbin said.

A rip current won’t pull you down into the water, only out away from the shore, and it doesn’t go extremely far. Usually it disperses after a sandbar, Arbin said.

The acronym RIP, is important to remember for anyone who gets caught in a rip current. R stands for “Relax,” I stands for “I Need Help,” and P stands for “Parallel,” as in, swim parallel to the beach.

A rip current doesn’t tend to be much wider than a backyard pool, so if swimmers go diagonal to the current, and parallel with the shore, they can escape the current at its side, Arbin said. Then they can turn to swim back to shore.

“The only thing we ever say, ‘don’t go swimming (without a lifeguard),’” Arbin said.

The Beach Patrol lifeguards return to the beach the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, and Beach Patrol does not recommend swimming before then.

Distribution of drugs

The Ocean City Police Department arrested Jabriel Kaishawn Walters, 31, of Dagsboro, Delaware on four counts of distributing narcotics and one count of distributing fentanyl and heroin, according to a police report.

The arrest is related to an ongoing undercover police investigation aimed at targeting drug dealers in and around Ocean City.

In March, police began investigating Walters and started contacting him undercover by phone.

On April 10, police met Walters at an uptown convenience store parking lot and bought $140 worth of heroin/fentanyl from him, which were arranged in two 13-bag bundles.

Police met with Walters at the same location to buy the same quantity of heroin/fentanyl again on April 26. During the drug deal, Walters told police he could get them a “log,” which is ten bundles, or $450 worth of heroin/fentanyl, according to the police report.

Just before 3 p.m., May 1, police met Walters at the same parking lot for the last time. As officers saw Walters arrive in the lot, they arrested him.

While searching Walters, police found 10 bundles of heroin/fentanyl, which consisted of 130 smaller bags containing the drugs.

Obstructing and hindering

Police arrested Christina Nichole Giles, 42, of Bridgeville, Delaware, on charges of trespassing, and obstructing and hindering after she yelled at people in a midtown bar, according to a police report.

Just before 7:30 p.m. on May 2, police responded to the bar for a hit and run crash, but when they got there, a manager told them Giles was swearing and shouting at other patrons. The manager said he wanted her removed from the bar.

When police met Giles she was slurring her words and sometimes speaking incoherently. She refused to identify herself and said she wasn’t trespassing the property.

Police argued with Giles and warned her she would be arrested if she didn’t leave or identify herself.

Giles continued to refuse until police arrested her.

Hit-and-run

The Ocean City Police arrested Ernest Joseph Leatherbury III, 27, of Berlin, Maryland, on 14 charges, including failure to notify a vehicle’s owner after damaging an unattended car, possession of a martial arts weapon and making a false theft report to police.

Around 10 p.m. on May 4, police responded to 94th Street for a call about a car crash.

The caller, Leatherbury, told police on the phone that someone had stolen his car and crashed it.

Another caller told police that someone hit his car, which was parked on 94th Street, and the driver got out of the car and ran away.

When police arrived they saw Leatherbury’s black Lexus still crashed against the other car, unoccupied with the door open.

Officers went to meet Leatherbury nearby, and when they did he was out of breath and sweating, according to the report.

Leatherbury told police one story about how he saw his car driving past him as he was leaving his job at a local restaurant and chased it on foot.

Police told him that his story didn’t seem consistent, so he told them a second story that was different, but still claimed he had seen someone stealing his car and chased it.

He told police his story was messed up because he had been drinking, and hadn’t intended to drive that night.

Police told him that if he was lying they would arrest him.

The person whose parked car was hit told police that after he heard a loud noise he went outside to investigate. There he saw the Lexus crashed into his car and a man running away in a black sweatshirt.

Police used the GPS plot of Leatherbury’s 911 call to discover that the call began about 600 feet from crash site. They tracked the GPS path Leatherbury took and found a discarded sweatshirt that fit the victims description of the running suspect.

After some further investigation police believed there was enough evidence to determine Leatherbury was the driver, and they arrested him.

Given consent from Leatherbury to search his phone, police found that a friend had texted Leatherbury telling him to lie to the police and say that someone had stolen his car, according to the police report.

Police found evidence of marijuana and a spring loaded knife in the Lexus at the scene of the crash.

Theft

Demetrius Earl Adams Jr., 36, of New Castle, Delaware, was arrested on five charges of theft between $1,500 and $25,000, and Raekwon Rysheke Johnson, 24, also of New Castle Delaware, recieved four of the same charges, according to a police report.

On May 5, police began investigating reports of theft and fraud at a midtown hotel. The hotel manager told police there were three people staying in the hotel in separate rooms who were using stolen credit card information to pay for the rooms. Among the three were Adams and Johnson.

After someone called the manager to report an unauthorized charge the hotel made to their card, the manager discovered that Adams was a front desk clerk at another Ocean City Hotel owned by the same corporation as the hotel where the manager worked.

Police discovered that all three stolen credit cards belonged to people or companies that had reservations at the hotel were Adams was employed.

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