NRP Logs Busy Labor Day Weekend with Rescues and Arrests

The traditional final weekend of summer proved to be a busy one for the men and women of Maryland Natural Resources Police.

For the three-day Labor Day holiday, officers responded to 15 boating accidents that resulted in injury or property damage, arrested six people on charges of impaired boating and seven others on criminal charges. They wrote 437 tickets and issued 1,204 warnings. Officers across the state conducted 1,983 boat safety inspections, spoke with 3,587 anglers and 235 hunters.

Dorchester County
On Monday evening, NRP officers worked with local first responders and State Police to locate and rescue a woman who fell from a boat in the Choptank River and was found clinging to a buoy.

The call came in shortly after 9:30 p.m. that a woman was missing from a 21-foot skiff near Howell Point, across the river from Cambridge.

Patrol boats and first responders began a search aided by Trooper 7, the Maryland State Police helicopter. At 11:07 p.m., the pilot spotted the woman holding onto a red navigational marker and an NRP patrol boat was able to bring her onboard, where she was evaluated by Talbot County EMS personnel.

Emily Kuth, 23, was taken to Dorchester General Hospital for evaluation and treatment for jellyfish exposure.

In addition to MSP Aviation, NRP was assisted by Rescue Fire Co. of Cambridge, Trappe Fire Co., Oxford Fire Co., Tilghman Fire Co., and the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office.

Worcester County
Also on Monday, officers arrested three men in Ocean City and charged them with theft of a boat from Sunset Marina.

After receiving a call, officers intercepted the vessel, a 35-foot Bertrum out of Annapolis, at about 6:15 p.m. and determined that the three men were not authorized to be aboard.

Michael Brandon Swartz, 22, of Davidsonville; Ryan Frederick Thompson, 21, of Mount Airy; and Thomas Andrew Tyler, 22, of Woodbine were charged with theft and unlawful taking of a motorized vehicle, offenses punishable by up to 15 years in prison and fines totaling $20,000. Swartz was held on $15,000 bond at the Worcester County jail. Thompson and Tyler were release on $50,000 bonds.

All three men are scheduled to appear in Worcester District Court on Oct. 16.

Also in Worcester County, Sunday night, NRP officers on patrol stopped a man wanted by Ocean City Police in connection with the stabbing of a man near the Princess Bayside Hotel on 48th Street.

Joseph Rodriguez, 23, of Westminster, fled from the scene of an altercation with a Virginia man, who suffered a minor knife wound to his chest. NRP officers stopped the vehicle a short time later in the area of 3rd Street and Philadelphia Avenue and held him until Ocean City Police arrived. Rodriguez was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon with intent to injure.

Cecil County
On Sunday evening, officers responded to a report of a serious boat accident on the C&D Canal near Elkton that sent three people to hospitals.

The recreational boat, traveling near Welch’s Point around 6:30 p.m., struck a navigational marker, resulting in damage to the boat’s bow and the marker. The boat managed to get to a boat lift on a private dock on South Shore Road in Elkton, where first responders administered aid.

All of the boaters were from Aston, Pa. A woman in her 20s, Lauren Giambri, was flown to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for head injuries. Nicholas Knight, 27, was treated for head and face injuries at Christiana Hospital in Delaware. Martin Knight Jr., 30, was treated at Union Hospital in Elkton for a head injury.

The accident remains under investigation.

Frederick County
Five dove hunters were charged on Saturday with hunting without a license and other offenses after an officer checked them on a farm in Thurmont.

Christopher Michael Conners, 36, of Rocky Ridge; Kirk Grabill Bohn, 45, of Thurmont; and John Robert Holden, 53, Blake Garrison Holden, 18, and Nicole Marie Small, 30, all of Fairfield, Pa. were charged with hunting without a license and failing to obtain a Maryland Migratory Game Stamp. They also were given warnings for failing to have written permission to hunt private property. In addition, Conners was charged with using an unplugged shotgun.

Two juveniles in the hunting party received warnings for violations.

The hunters are scheduled to appear in Frederick District Court on Nov. 10. The maximum fine for each charge is $1,500.

Washington County
Scott Frederick Dustin, 48, of Middleton was charged with impaired boating near the Big Slackwater boat ramp in Sharpsburg.

An officer saw Dustin driving a jet ski with a passenger who was not wearing a life jacket as required by Maryland law.

Dustin failed a field sobriety test and registered a .20 blood alcohol content on a breathlyzer test administered by State Police. He received three citations for impaired boating and one citation for failure to have a life jacket aboard.

A date has not been set in Washington District Court.

Garrett County
A man was arrested Friday night and charged with impaired boating on Deep Creek Lake.

Robert Paul Detorre Jr., 50, of Pittsburgh was stopped at 11 p.m. for operating a vessel with improper navigational lights. He was taken to the Garrett County Sheriff’s office, where he registered a .15 blood alcohol content on the breathalyzer test, nearly twice the legal limit.

Detorre is scheduled to appear in Garrett District Court on Nov. 25 on three charges of impaired boating and one charge of unsafe boating.