Keep in touch with the action at the Delaware and Maryland Ocean Beaches...
Weekend Update with Alan Henney
Special to ST. MARY'S TODAY

MAN ALLEGEDLY TURNS $1 INTO 160 QUARTERS!
A man stopped a seasonal police officer Saturday and gave him a cup of
what he claimed contained $40 in quarters.  The man was reportedly
changing a dollar at the Parking Meter Department's Change Machine #2
near City Hall when he received the windfall around 1:45 p.m.
Parking meter technicians dumped the change into a coin sack, and
unceremoniously poured it back into Change Machine #2.  They said they
did not recount the change the man had returned.
The technicians kept busy this weekend, responding to at least 10
problem reports related to the change machines.  In some cases they
had just checked a machine, and then they would receive another report
that it was broken.  Some trouble reports seem to simply be late
received.  But others may suggest an intermittent problem, such as the
160-quarter payout.
NEAR-DROWNING OF CHILD IN MILLSBORO, STILL CRITICAL
A five-year-old girl was pulled from a home swimming pool Saturday by
her grandfather.  She was still alive, but not breathing when he
removed her from the pool around 2:20 p.m., says Paramedic
Spokesperson Tedd Winneberger.  The grandfather performed rescue
breathing and was able to get the girl breathing and even talking.
But the girl later took a turn for the worse.  Paramedic Winneberger
said she was possibly suffering from inhaling chlorinated water.  The
girl was flown to Beebe, then to Johns Hopkins.  The incident took
place in the 28100 block of Gravel Hill Road (Route 30 north of Route
24), north of Millsboro.
NUDE WOMAN PULLED FROM BAY NEAR CAPE HENLOPEN PIER
Early Thursday rescuers received a report of a woman in the Delaware
Bay screaming for help near the Cape Henlopen fishing pier.  Police
arrived quickly and found a nude 47-year-old Georgetown woman in the
water around 1:15 a.m.  At least one report indicated that she
appeared to be intoxicated, and may have been skinny-dipping with a
man.
Rescuers placed the woman on a boat and took her to the Coast Guard
dock at the University of Delaware.  Sussex County Paramedic Tedd
Winneberger said she was shivering with cold skin and appeared to be
hypothermic.  She also appeared to be irrational, but they were
unclear if it were due to alcohol, drugs or exposure.  She was taken
to Beebe in critical condition.




MORE ORDNANCE REMOVED FROM CAPE HENLOPEN
It was an interesting coincidence that new warning signs were erected
in the Cape Henlopen State Park last week.  Around 12:30 p.m. on
Friday, the state police bomb team removed another military device.
It was taken to Dover Air Force Base.  The Army Corps of Engineers has
a project underway to rid the park of such items left by military
personnel who trained there during the Korean War and World War II.




BOGUS BOMB THREAT EMPTIES O.C. TRANSIT BUS
A man, known to police as having mental problems, allegedly called the
city's transit supervisor with a bomb threat around 9 p.m. Sunday.
The bus was stopped at 21st Street, evacuated and checked by police.
Meanwhile, police were able to locate the man who made the call, and
questioned him.  A fire investigator responding to the scene said that
although police did not take the man seriously, protocol required the
bus to be searched.




O.C. BUS STOP SET ABLAZE
A city transit bus stop was set on fire in front of the 45th Street
Village early Thursday.  The fire appeared to start in the see-through
wall and burned a hole through the plastic roof.  The fire was
extinguished by Ocean City firefighters.  A fire investigator was
requested.  At least one bystander provided a suspect description of a
juvenile seen in the area when the fire started.  The annual Maryland
State Firemen's Association convention took place this past week in
Ocean City.
OTHER O.C. BUS-RELATED VIOLENCE
Ocean City transit buses are often targeted for acts of violence or
encounter crimes in progress while on the road.  This weekend was no
exception.  Around 1 a.m. Friday, a woman driving Bus 215 screamed for
police when a kid was performing "bus flips" onboard her bus near 30th
Street.
On Saturday, a bus driver reported a fight in progress, either on or
near his bus on 21st Street.  About 10 minutes later, at 2:20 a.m.,
the driver of Bus 261 called for police on 48th Street when two men
started fighting on his bus.

VEHICLE FLEEING POLICE WRECKS, OVERTURNS AFTER LEAVING SEACRETS
A man sped off from Seacrets nearly hit three employees, struck
another object, then attempted to elude police as he flew down Coastal
Highway at 100 m.p.h.  The man left the popular Ocean City bar on 49th
Street around 2:20 a.m. Saturday, and minutes later he struck other
vehicles and rolled over near 32nd Street.
One of the men in the suspect's car took off on foot but police
captured him minutes later.  One other person was ejected from a
vehicle and a third patient suffered a partial or complete hand
amputation.  She was flown to a trauma center in Baltimore.

OTHER SERIOUS ACCIDENTS IN O.C.
Including the accident mentioned above, Ocean City flew four patients
to trauma centers this weekend from four separate accidents.  The
first was on 65th Street around 1:30 p.m. Friday.  A passenger in a
vehicle suffered severe back pain with tingling in his legs and hands
after a crash.  He was flown to Salisbury's P.R.M.C.

On Saturday, rescuers flew three accident victims.  The first involved
the vehicle that fled Seacrets.  At noon, a trauma patient was flown
from a two-car crash at 139th Street and Sinepuxent Avenue.  Around 6
p.m., a motorcyclist was reportedly thrown about 75 feet after a wreck
near Holly Grove Road and U.S. Route 50 in West Ocean City.

HIGH-SEAS RESCUE FOR SINKING VESSEL
Several boating incidents kept the Coast Guard busy, particularly on
Saturday off the Jersey shore.  Group Atlantic City Petty Officer
Gilmore said the most notable rescue was for a 47-foot walk-around
that had been reported sinking about 33 nautical miles from Cape May
around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.  The fishing vessel "Dreamer," a Good
Samaritan, rushed to assist, while a Coast Guard helicopter flew a
pump to the sinking boat.  Three people were on board and were safely
returned to port with their vessel.

MURDER SUSPECT POSSIBLY HEADED TO O.C., FOUND DEAD
Late Saturday night police feared that a 20-year-old man wanted for a
murder in Pennsylvania was headed to Ocean City to carry out a second
homicide.  The first murder took place in Foster Township in Luzerne
County around 6 p.m.  The suspect was Joseph Curto, who reportedly
stalked somebody on 28th Street in Ocean City last year.  Police said
he may have been headed to Ocean City, but he was discovered dead
several hours later.

REHOBOTH TOWS CAR WITH FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE TAGS
City parking enforcers showed no favoritism Saturday when they towed a
car with Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police tags.  A ticket-writer
discovered the vehicle parked at an expired meter on Rehoboth Avenue
near Second Street.  It had accumulated enough in previous unpaid
fines to justify towing.  The handheld machines used to issue the
computerized citations check for unpaid tickets.

POLICE ADDRESS AD SIGNS ON REHOBOTH AVENUE
Rehoboth Beach police received a report Saturday morning about signs
appearing at the Rehoboth Avenue round-about promoting an outlet shop.
In one instance, a person was reported holding the sign.  The officer
responding to investigate was told the city manager wanted the signs
removed.
An officer expressed concern about a vehicle Sunday that displayed a
"large sign."  The supervisor noted that vehicle advertising was
allowed, but they were not allowed to erect nor hold signs.
In a seemingly unrelated incident, around 6:45 Friday evening, police
investigated a person trying to obtain petition signatures near
Dolphin Dreaming in the second block of Rehoboth Avenue.  That was
presumably allowed if not for commercial purposes.

SMOKE SCARE AT JOLLY ROGER AMUSEMENT PARK
Smoke filled the "fun house" at Ocean City's "largest family amusement
facility" around 9:45 Sunday evening.  Firefighters said the smoke
appeared to be from an electrical source, possibly a motor.  A fire
investigator responded to the park on 30th Street.