OC: Cop Nearly Shoots Suspect For Charging Him With Knife

OCEAN CITY — A Baltimore man was arrested on first-degree assault after allegedly pulling a switchblade on an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer and continuing to come toward him to the point the officer had to threaten to shoot him.

Around 12:30 p.m. last Saturday, an OCPD officer was working in a covert capacity around 3rd Street and Baltimore Avenue searching with other officers for a robbery suspect. The OCPD officers observed a group of about eight males standing on the sidewalk on 3rd Street outside City Hall. As the officers approached, the group of about eight males abruptly split in several directions and began to run away from the area. According to police reports, the officers observed frightened expressions on the faces of at least two of the males.

The OCPD officer exited the unmarked patrol vehicle and began to approach the bushes on the south side of City Hall to see if any of the suspects who had fled were hiding there. As the officer stepped out of the street and onto the sidewalk, he noticed a male suspect, later identified as Jordan Kuzma, 19, of Baltimore, lurking on the sidewalk about 20 feet away from the officer.

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