New Worcester County Sheriff And Chief Deputy Sworn In

SNOW HILL -- A standing-room-only crowd watched as, for the first time in more than a decade, a new law enforcement leader took the reins in Worcester County as Sheriff Reggie Mason was sworn in.

Mason, who was elected sheriff in November, was sworn in by Clerk of Court Stephen Hales as Mason's family, sheriff's deputies and a crowd of supporters watched.

"It's an honor to be in front of you," Mason said. "This is a special day for me and my family."

Mason -- a 28-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office who most recently served as chief deputy -- defeated Democratic candidate Bobby Brittingham in last month's election to take over as head of county law enforcement for Charles Martin, who chose not to run for re-election. Mason thanked Martin, who has held the post for 12 years, and said he hoped his health improved so he could do some traveling in his retirement. In January, Martin publicly disclosed he has Lyme disease and cited that as a reason he wouldn't run again.

Mason, a Republican, thanked his array of supporters, many of whom were in the crowded quarters, as well as those who taught him about police work. He said being elected sheriff meant a lot to him, especially since he lost a sister and his father-in-law during the campaign.

He assured those present that he would continue to ride the county's roads day and night.

"I will continue to make Worcester County safe," he said.

In light of recent fatal accidents on Route 113 in Worcester, Mason said the road's safety would be one of his priorities.

"We've got to do something about 113," he said. "The Worcester County Sheriff's Office will be involved."

Following Mason's installment as sheriff, John Dale Smack III was sworn in as chief deputy of the Sheriff's Office. He said he was looking forward to the opportunity.

"I will do the best I can for you," he said.

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Worcester County Sheriff's Department Makes Drug Arrest

POCOMOKE CITY -- Two men are in police custody after 107.9 grams of marijuana was seized by Worcester County sheriff's detectives after a traffic stop for a broken taillight.

Jarrell Bernard Roberts, 24, of Pocomoke City was charged with possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana in a school zone, possession of paraphernalia, resisting arrest and assault of a law enforcement officer.

Roderick D. Collier, 20, of Pocomoke City has been charged with possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana in a school zone, resisting arrest and possession of paraphernalia.

Roberts and Collier were charged after Sheriff's Office Detective Anthony Rhode pulled over the vehicle they were in for an alleged equipment violation on Young Street in Pocomoke City.

Detectives Rodney Wells, Brian Trader and Bethany Ramey then arrived and proceeded to search Roberts and Collier after seeing them make "furtive movements," according to charging documents.

A pat-down was given to ensure officer safety, police said, and officers found a gallon-sized plastic bag containing 20 individually wrapped plastic bags of marijuana as well as a digital scale in Roberts' pants, according to a police statement.

Collier allegedly shouted at the officers that the marijuana found on Roberts was his. Taking him at his word, police say, they searched Collier, finding a plastic sandwich bag allegedly containing 17 individual wrapped plastic bags of suspected marijuana as well as a digital scale, which contained what police say was marijuana and cocaine residue.

Once in custody, Collier and Roberts were unruly and uncooperative, according to police.

The driver of the car, Derrick Smith of Pocomoke City, was not charged nor searched, according to police.

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Two Pocomoke City Teens Arrested On Gun Possession Charges

POCOMOKE CITY — Sheriff's deputies arrested two 18-year-olds in the Pocomoke City area on charges of illegal handgun possession.

One suspect, David Dewayne Dickerson, 18, of Pocomoke, had a loaded revolver in his pants pocket when he stepped out of a vehicle that was the subject of a traffic stop, police said.

Sheriff's deputies had stopped the vehicle in which Dickerson was a passenger because they saw another man wanted on an arrest warrant for handgun possession in the car. That man, Martel Blake, 18, of Pocomoke City, was also arrested at the scene, police said.

Police said Blake had been wanted by police and had been spotted by Pocomoke City police earlier in the day, but had eluded capture. When sheriff's deputies saw Blake's vehicle on Buck Harbor Road, the Sheriff's Office said, they stopped the car and arrested both men.

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Grand Jury Indicts Son In First-Degree Murder Of Mother

SNOW HILL – A Worcester County grand jury this week formally indicted on a first-degree murder charge a Pennsylvania man charged in early September with repeatedly running over his elderly mother on a rural road north of Berlin.

Steven Frederick Molin, 58, of Darby, Pa., was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of his mother, Emily Belle Molin, 85, also of Darby, after an incident on Carey Rd. on Aug. 31.

Molin was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in District Court yesterday, but that hearing was superseded by the grand jury indictment earlier in the week. The case is now set to take place in Worcester County Circuit Court.

Shortly before midnight on Aug. 31, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office responded to a serious motor vehicle accident on Carey Rd. in Berlin. From the beginning, Steven Molin has not denied running over his mother as many as three times, but has claimed the incident was an accident, caused in part by a faulty passenger side door on the 2008 Chevy work truck damaged in a different accident earlier in the day.

However, a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office accident reconstructionist, after reviewing the physical evidence and interviewing Molin, determined the victim had been run over three times despite ample opportunity by the suspect to avoid hitting her after the first collision.


According to police reports, there was substantial physical evidence in the roadway including the victim’s shoes and articles of clothing along with blood and hair evidence with tire impressions through the middle of them. The report also indicates the victim’s shoe impressions were discovered on the back bumper and near the undercarriage and ball hitch of the work truck, suggesting she tried to stick her foot up to avoid being run over.

After reviewing the physical evidence at the scene, detectives determined the incident was not merely a motor vehicle accident, according to police reports.
Detectives at the scene also noted the vehicle had a piece of rope tied to the passenger side door handle along with damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.

When questioned about the rope and the damage, Molin allegedly told police at the scene, “I don’t know how much I should say to you,” before telling the officers he was involved in a different accident earlier in the day.


During an interview hours after the incident, Molin told police he had picked up the victim at a nursing home in Pennsylvania where she lived around 5:20 p.m. that night to take her to dinner. He then drove her to Evergreen Cemetery in Berlin to visit the grave of her late husband and his father, who had died in 1981. After a visit at the cemetery, Molin started driving his mother back to Darby, Pa. along Carey Rd. in northern Worcester County.


Molin told detectives while he was driving on Carey Rd., he thought his mother had fallen out of the vehicle. He told police the door swung open, but he did not see anything. At that point, he allegedly heard a thump and ran over the victim. He told detectives he then backed up and ran over her again. According to police reports, Molin told police he then thought the vehicle was on top of her, so he pulled forward, which is when he ran over the victim a third time.


Information contained in the statement of charges suggests the incident might have been more than an accident, however. According to police reports, Molin and his mother were scheduled to appear for a court hearing the next day, Sept. 1, on two pieces of property that were in his name.

The purpose of the hearing was to transfer ownership of the two properties back into the victim’s name and the victim would then transfer the properties to the nursing home in order to allow her to continue to receive services from the facility, according to police reports.


A Sheriff’s deputy on the scene of the incident reportedly received a call from an employee of the nursing home where the victim lived advising that she had talked to Molin earlier that day and that he intentionally wrecked his truck because he was mad about the pending court issues regarding the two properties.

The nursing home employee also told detectives Molin had allegedly threatened to blow her head off because of an argument she had with him.

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

Del. Candidate, Mayor of Pocomoke On Admin. Suspension As Deputy

I'm sure alot of you out there have many questions concerning the suspension of the House of Delegates candidate and Mayor of Pocomoke, Mike McDermott. So do I.

I still don't understand what the big damn deal is about the gun. The gun was locked in his office......so where was it supposed to be? It was his office and the door was locked. Oh, I forgot. Mr. McDermott never opened his mouth to report the gun was missing! Is THAT one of the issues here? Then say so! I had rather know his weapon was locked in his office at work than in a closet at home or in a vehicle. Can't a home get robbed and a vehicle broken into? Who's going to break into the office of an officer unless they are looking for something?

Read this post below. It puts the whole story in a better light than other articles. The timing doesn't make sense. Why did Chief Martin wait so long?

Quite frankly, I wish people would get off this man's back and let him live with some peace and quiet. If he has done something so bad than let the taxpayers know. Stop spouting things about him in the attempt to make him look like the bad guy all of the time. And if he is as bad as the written word says then do something about it..........and stop wasting time.

I no longer live in Worcester County and I'm not sure if that is a blessing or not. But I do know that I would probably vote for him, unless, someone can prove that all he has been accused of by heresay, is the truth.

I wish Mike McDermott the best of luck.


NANCY POWELL

Associate Editor

(Aug. 13, 2010) House of Delegates candidate Mike McDermott, who is also mayor of Pocomoke City, has been on administrative suspension as a deputy with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office since late July and an investigation is under way.

Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Martin declined to discuss details of the matter, but the suspension is related to a September incident in which he reportedly found McDermott’s assigned weapon in McDermott’s locked office when McDermott was not there. The weapon was reportedly McDermott’s secondary one; he still had his primary weapon.

A review board of three members of the Sheriff’s Office has reportedly recommended that the suspension be lifted. It has also been reported elsewhere that no investigation has begun, but Martin said the investigation into the issue started several months ago.

“A good part of it is being done by me,” Martin said.

While on administrative leave, McDermott, who is a lieutenant and in charge of the Criminal Enforcement Team, may not carry a gun or make arrests. Prior to being suspended, McDermott had desk duties as part of his work. Now, he is restricted to desk duties.

When a deputy is off-duty, he is permitted to carry his service weapon, but must have the proper identification as a deputy. If the deputy is off-duty and does not want to have the weapon on his person, he may lock it in his vehicle’s trunk or lock it safe and securely in his house. Some deputies have lock boxes in their homes, Martin said.

McDermott is the Republican candidate for state delegate representing District 38B, comprised of Worcester County and a part of Wicomico.

Martin declined to answer questions Thursday about why he waited so long to put McDermott on administrative suspension. Rumors started swirling months ago that someone within the Sheriff’s Office would try doing something to derail McDermott’s candidacy for delegate, but Martin’s name was not mentioned in conjunction with that.

www.oceancitytoday.net

Worcester Co. Sheriff's Officer Lt. Michael McDermott Temporarily Stripped Of Police Powers

SNOW HILL -- Worcester County Sheriff's Office Lt. Michael McDermott has been temporarily stripped of his police powers while the Sheriff's Office investigated a September 2009 incident involving a service weapon, according to his lawyer. McDermott is the mayor of Pocomoke City and a Republican candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 38B.

Worcester County Sheriff Charles T. Martin confirmed Wednesday that McDermott's power to arrest was taken away July 22 and said the lieutenant is now on administrative office duty. An incident involving McDermott is being investigated, Martin said, but he declined to comment on the specifics of the case because it is a personnel matter.

"Those powers remain suspended until they are reinstated by me or the case is adjudicated," Martin said. "It's something that is going to be adjudicated within the system, and he knows the system as well as I do."

The investigation has nothing to do with McDermott's run for the legislature, Martin said. The sheriff, a Democrat, will step down at the end of his fourth term in November because of health reasons.

According to Michael Davey, McDermott's lawyer, the suspension stems from a 2009 incident concerning the location of a service weapon assigned to the lieutenant. The gun was in McDermott's office, Davey said.

"I'm guessing it should have been secured in a better location than his locked office," Davey said, adding that the situation leading to the charges against his client are still unclear. "We are assuming that is the basis for his suspension."

On July 27, the emergency suspension board -- comprised of members of the Sheriff's Office -- reviewed the charges and recommended that McDermott's powers be reinstated, Davey said. However, their decision is not binding, and final say in the matter will come down to Martin.

"At this point we are trying to get his police powers returned by the sheriff based on the recommendations of his own staff," Davey said. "We are trying to determine what the basis of this suspension was because we just don't know at this point."

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Pocomoke Mayor Mike McDermott Stripped Of Police Powers In Worcester County

SNOW HILL — Worcester County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael McDermott was temporarily stripped of his police powers while the department investigates a Sept. 2009 incident involving a service weapon, according to his lawyer. McDermott is the mayor of Pocomoke City and a Republican candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 38B.

Worcester County Sheriff Charles T. Martin confirmed that McDermott’s power to arrest was taken away on July 22, and said McDermott is now on administrative office duties. An incident involving McDermott is being investigated, Martin said, but he declined to comment on the specifics of the case because it is a personnel matter.
“Those powers remain suspended until they are reinstated by me or the case is adjudicated,” Martin said. “It’s something that is going to be adjudicated within the system, and he knows the system as well as I do."
See continuing coverage in Thursday’s The Daily Times.
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