Assault and Robbery Gets Snow Hill Man Arrested

Police in Worcester County have arrested a Snow Hill man after an assault and robbery on New Year’s Eve. The victim met 18 year old Kenneth Wharton along the roadside near Snow Hill Friday night. Wharton got out of his vehicle with a baseball bat, demanded the victim’s cell phone and cash, and then beat him with the bat. The victim was able to get home to call for help – he’s in stable condition at PRMC in Salisbury. Wharton is being held in default of $25,000 bond.

NEWS RELEASE: DATE/TIME: December 31, 2010
LOCATION: Snow Hill, Worcester County, MD.
SUSPECT: Kenneth Lee Wharton, 3rd. Male age 18, Algonquin Trail, Snow Hill,
Worcester County, Maryland.
Victim: Kendrick Hall, male (from) Pocomoke, MD.
CHARGES: First degree assault, Second degree assault, Reckless endangerment, Armed robbery, Theft less than $500.00 and Theft less than $100.

Narrative:
On 12/31/10 at approximately 1200 hours, Worcester County Bureau of Investigations received information that a victim identified as Kendrick Hall was transported by ambulance to Peninsula Regional Medical Center for numerous injuries regarding an assault/robbery.

Investigator’s responded to PRMC and made contact with the victim. The victim identified the suspect as Kenneth Lee Wharton, 3rd from Snow Hill, Maryland, stating the two were acquaintances.

During the early morning hours of December 31, 2010 the victim and the suspect met along a roadside, just off of Rt 113 (located) in Snow Hill, Worcester Co. Md. The victim states, upon the two of them stopping their vehicles and exiting, the suspect immediately approached the victim, with a baseball bat in his hand. The suspect demanded the victim’s cellular telephone and currency. The victim, states he gave the suspect $10 in US Currency and his cell phone (Motorola Driod “X” smart phone).

After the suspect received the items from the victim, the suspect then started to
hit the victim with the baseball bat multiple times, about the head and body area.
The victim fell to the ground and the suspect then re-entered his vehicle and left
the area. The victim, was bleeding profusely, but was able to re-enter his vehicle and drove himself to his residence, where he seek emergency assistance and was transported by ambulance to PRMC.

The suspect was located at his residence and was arrested without incident. The suspect is currently being held at the Worcester County Detention Center, on
$25,000.00 bond.

The victim is listed in stable condition at PRMC and is believed he will make a full recovery.

www.wgmd.com

Officers Sickened After PCP Exposure

OCEAN CITY -- Several Ocean City police personnel were hospitalized after being exposed to the hallucinogen PCP, which they unwittingly found in the purse of a woman detained on drug possession charges.

One police officer and three public safety aides were taken to Atlantic General Hospital on June 15 after experiencing symptoms of elevated blood pressure, dizziness, burning eyes and a racing heartbeat. Analysis by Maryland State Police determined the substance recovered from the purse of detained suspect Leslie Veronica Simpson was PCP, or phencyclidine, according to Ocean City Police spokeswoman Jessica Waters.

Officers were going through her purse because Simpson had asked them to retrieve a telephone number stored in her cell phone. Inside the purse, police found marijuana, other suspected drugs in vials and a box cutter. Simpson, 40, of Washington, apparently had dipped a cigar in liquid PCP and kept it inside a plastic baggie. When Officer Vicki Martin opened the plastic pouch, marked "blunt," that's when she and three others were overcome with dizziness, according to court documents.

A deputy Ocean City fire marshal later responded as a hazardous materials official. When he questioned Simpson to learn what the chemicals were in the vials, she refused to identify the substance, according to police.

Simpson subsequently was charged with four counts of reckless endangerment in addition to her initial charges of marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession.

www.delmarvanow.com