Gun Found In Child Seat

OCEAN CITY — A Parkville, Md. man was arrested last weekend after a loaded handgun was found in his infant’s child safety seat following a routine traffic stop.

Around 10:25 p.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the midtown area observed a vehicle with expired registration tags and conducted a traffic stop. The officer approached the vehicle and observed two adults in it along with a one-year-old in a child seat in the back, according to police reports.

The officer reportedly detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and observed several burnt hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes throughout the passenger compartment. The officer also observed an infant in a carrier in the back seat, according to police reports.

After OCPD officers conducted a background check on the vehicle, when they returned, they observed the infant and the carrier were now in the front passenger’s lap. Officers asked the driver, identified as Leon Witherspoon III, 22, of Parkville, Md., and the passenger to exit the vehicle.

The passenger exited the vehicle with the infant and the child carrier. The passenger was advised to bring the child but leave the carrier. A search revealed a .22-caliber handgun secreted inside the cushion of the child carrier seat. The search also revealed two plastic bags of marijuana in an amount over 10 grams, according to police reports.

The handgun was loaded with five rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber. According to police reports, Witherspoon told police he did not put the loaded gun in the child safety seat and that his female passenger was not capable of doing such a thing. Witherspoon was arrested and charged with numerous weapons violations and possession of over 10 grams of marijuana among other counts.

OCEAN CITY — A Salisbury woman was arrested on weapons charges last weekend after a routine traffic stop in a downtown convenience store parking lot.

Around 1 a.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the downtown area observed a vehicle pull into a convenience store parking lot with the driver not wearing a seatbelt and conducted a traffic stop. The driver, later identified as Brittney White, 33, of Salisbury, was asked for her license and went through her purse and retrieved several credit cards and other information, but could not locate her driver’s license, according to police reports.

White reportedly told officers she did have a valid driver’s license, but could not locate it at the time. Meanwhile, she became irate and began yelling at the officer, “I don’t like people [expletive deleted] with me and lying to me about a [expletive deleted] seatbelt,” according to police reports. She was reportedly advised to stop yelling.

A background check revealed her Maryland license had been revoked since last November. She was arrested at that point. White was detained in handcuffs and advised to sit on the sidewalk in front of her vehicle. During a search, OCPD officers located two baggies of marijuana and a scale inside White’s handbag, according to police reports. While seated on the curb in front of her vehicle, White reportedly wiggled one of her hands out of the handcuffs and attempted to get to her phone and she was cuffed again.

Because White’s vehicle was not fully in a parking space and was partially blocking the travel lanes in the convenience store parking lot, OCPD officers called for a tow truck. During an inventory of the vehicle’s contents before the two, OCPD officers reportedly located a fixed-blade knife under some papers in the center console that was not in a protective case, according to police reports. OCPD officers also located a small baseball bat under the driver’s seat in the vehicle. White advised the bat was for her child, but officers found no other evidence in the vehicle that White had a child, according to police reports.

In addition to traffic-related charges including driving on a revoked license, White was also charged with possession of concealed deadly weapons. While in the transport vehicle, White again removed her hand from the handcuffs and continued to bang on the inside of the transport vehicle, according to police reports.

OCEAN CITY — A local man was arrested last weekend after getting pulled over for a routine traffic violation and then scrapping with police when he allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Around 12:15 a.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the midtown area stopped a vehicle for not having an operating brake light. The officer identified the driver as Clayton Enwistle, 32, of Berlin, who advised he had just dropped off his girlfriend at her vehicle, according to police reports. The officer reportedly detected an odor of burnt marijuana coming from the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

Officers ordered Entwistle out of the vehicle and instructed him to sit on the curb so they could search the vehicle, but Entwistle did not comply and questioned why he was being detained and refused to sit on the curb, according to police reports. As an OCPD officer attempted to handcuff Entwistle, he tensed his arms behind his back and contorted his torso in an attempt to break free, according to police reports.

After being told to stop, Entwistle reportedly continued to resist being placed in handcuffs and aggressively turned his back away from the arresting officer, according to police reports. Entwistle was then placed under arrest for obstructing an investigation because the initial officer could not safely search the vehicle without him detained, according to police reports.

He reportedly began screaming “Help me,” multiple times as officers attempted to bring him under control. According to police reports, he was screaming so loud his voice was echoing off nearby buildings. It ultimately took four OCPD officers to gain control of Entwistle as he continued to resist being placed in handcuffs. At one point, he reportedly used his left hand to put one officer in a headlock, but he was ultimately taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs.

A search of the vehicle’s trunk revealed various amounts of raw marijuana in different containers. All in all, Entwistle was charged with second-degree assault, obstructing and hindering, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and a noise violation.

OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested last week after allegedly stumbling down Coastal Highway in an area divided by the median fence and eluding police.

Around 12:30 a.m. last Thursday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer patrolling in the midtown area observed an individual crossing Coastal Highway in a diagonal manner. The officer reportedly advised the individual, later identified as Edgardo Laboy, 29, of Lancaster, Pa., to get out of the highway using his public address system.

However, Laboy continued to walk in the highway in an area where the sidewalk was readily available. Laboy continued to walk in the highway near the fenced median. When the officer told Laboy to stop, he reportedly said “Nope” and kept on walking in the roadway, according to police reports.

Laboy reportedly then ran across Coastal Highway in the middle of traffic. The OCPD officer broadcasted a description of Laboy and he was located underneath a parked vehicle at a hotel parking lot on 48th Street. OCPD officers again instructed Laboy to show his hands and he again replied “Nope” according to police reports.

Laboy was able to avoid officers at that point and stumbled away and back into the highway, where vehicles had to deploy their brakes to avoid hitting him, according to police reports. OCPD officers briefly lost sight of Laboy, who cut through a hotel parking lot on the east side of Coastal Highway.

Officers again attempted to stop Laboy at the beach at 49th Street. Laboy then ran through the dune crossing at the beach at 49th Street right toward an awaiting OCPD officer, who drew his conductive electrical weapon, or taser, and ordered him to get on the ground. Laboy complied and was arrested for intoxicated endangerment, failing to provide identification and trespassing.

OCEAN CITY — A Pittsburgh man, arrested in June after assaulting and threatening to kill a group of individuals in an uptown condo unit, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Around 4:25 a.m. on June 17, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a condominium at 81st Street for a reported weapons violation. Ocean City Communications advised there was a male later identified as Riley Jesensky, 18, of Pittsburgh, Pa., banging on the complainants’ door and stating he was going to kill them, according to police reports.

The complainants advised Jesensky is known to carry a knife, although they had not seen it. OCPD officers met with the six occupants of the unit, who provided a description of Jesensky. OCPD officers located Jesensky on the beach at 82nd Street a short time later.

One of the female victims told police prior to Jesensky leaving the unit, he threw a water bottle at her, striking her in the leg. The victim reportedly told police she got away and ran to a bathroom in the hallway, but the door did not have a lock, so she reportedly held it as tight as she could while Jesensky attempted to kick the door in, according to police reports.

The female victim told police she was able to get to an exterior balcony where she called a friend. While on the balcony, the victim said Jesensky pushed her and then punched her in the nose with a closed fist, according to police reports. The victim said Jesensky then left for a while, but returned to the living room area where he pushed and punched the female victim again. He also picked up a glass from a table and threw it at the victim, striking her in the chest.

The victim told police Jesensky then began throwing beer cans around the unit and screamed at its occupants he was going to “kill them all, throw them off the balcony and skin them alive,” according to police reports. OCPD officers interviewed the other occupants of the unit, who corroborated the victim’s version of the events. The victims also told officers Jesensky had punched holes in the hallway doors of the unit, and officers located a fist-size hole in one of the doors. Last week, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

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