Man Arrested For Swiping Lion Sculpture From Nearby Hotel

OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City man was arrested on theft and malicious destruction of property charges this week after swiping a large concrete lion from the front of a downtown hotel and defacing the sculpture.

Around 2:15 a.m. on Monday, Ocean City Police responded to a residence on 7th Street and Edgewater Ave. for a reported noise violation. As the officers were walking up the steps to the apartment unit, they observed a four-foot tall white ornate statue sitting in the middle of the living room. The Colonel Arms Luxury Suites owner had reported the large, heavy statue missing a day earlier after noticing it had been taken around 11:30 a.m. on July 6.

The officers approached the front door of the unit and asked for the identification of the individuals on the lease to begin processing the noise complaint. The officers also told the occupants they wanted to know how and where the stolen lion statue arrived at their unit and who was responsible. The tenants told police they had a party the night before and a couple of intoxicated guests had brought the lion to their apartment.

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