Suspect Claims To Be Trooper After Hit-And-Run Spree

OCEAN CITY — A Cordova, Md. man was arrested on multiple charges Wednesday after leaving the scene after hitting two vehicles, one of which was occupied, and a fence before representing himself as a Maryland State Police trooper to Ocean City police.

Around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Ocean City police responded to Big Peckers on 73rd Street for a reported property damage vehicle collision. The alleged at-fault striking vehicle was a red Chevrolet Avalanche, which had been the subject of a broadcast from Ocean City Police Communications about 10 minutes earlier. In that broadcast, the operator of the Chevy Avalanche, later identified as William Malinowski, 44, of Cordova, Md., had been denied entry to Seacrets and was observed driving away at a high rate of speed.

In the meantime, another call had come in reporting a red Chevy Avalanche with a driver matching Malinowski’s description was observed speeding on 57th Street. OCPD officers met with several witnesses at the Big Peckers parking lot. One witness told police he had been informed Malinowski’s truck had struck his unoccupied Jeep Wrangler in the parking lot and that Malinowski attempted to flee the scene before police arrived.

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