OC’s Mayor Meehan Furious Over Unruly Crowds in Resort this Weekend
While the official car event moved to Atlantic City – many still return to Ocean City where the event has been unsanctioned. City officials have put a Special Event Zone in place to reduce speeds and increase fines for violators, however Saturday evening a large crowd gathered in the area of 13th and 14th Streets and Baltimore Avenue which quickly became unruly. Police tried to clear the area, and several officers were injured when people in the crowd threw rocks and bottles at them. Resort police are being helped by Maryland State Police and the Worcester County Sheriff’s office as well as other police agencies to help keep the situation calm. This morning Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan issued a statement on his Facebook page condemning the events that have been taking place in the city by those whose only purpose is to disrupt and defy.
What took place this past weekend in Ocean City can never happen again. This group came to town with the sole purpose to raise havoc in our community, to disrupt our lives and defy law enforcement. They placed our town, as well as our citizens and visitors. under siege and in danger which is unacceptable under any circumstances. Our town government, citizens, property owners and businesses must join together as one voice to take whatever action is necessary to stop this group from returning. This isn鈥檛 about just one weekend this is about our future.
I cannot say enough about the men and women of the Ocean City Police Department, the Worcester County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, the Maryland State Police, Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland Transportation Police and the other allied agencies that were here this weekend. They went far beyond the call of duty in their attempts to enforce the law and to protect our community while at the same time placing themselves in harm鈥檚 way.
The Mayor and City Council must immediately begin working with Police Chief Buzzuro, City Manager Doug Miller and State Agencies to put a plan in place to stop this chaos. All potential actions should be considered. This includes, but should not be limited to, declaring a State of Emergency. I plan to speak with the Governor this week to discuss this in detail and ask for his assistance.
We cannot let what happened in Ocean City this weekend define us as a community. This must stop and it must stop now.
