Five people were taken into custody Friday as a report of an armed carjacking in Ocean City turned into a multiple vehicle police chase that spanned three Lower Shore counties.
Four of those who police say were involved are juveniles and were not named by law enforcement due to their ages. A stolen handgun was recovered.
The carjacking
Ocean City police were informed of a possible vehicle break-in in the 10 block of Wicomico Street in the early morning of Nov. 18. While en route to investigate, officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Dorchester Street for a report of an armed carjacking with a handgun, an Ocean City Police Department news release states.
At Dorchester Street, officers located a 73-year-old male from Brandywine, Maryland, who had suffered a head injury. He was taken to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional with non-life-threatening injuries, the Nov. 19 new release states.
The victim told officers that he was standing near his vehicle on Dorchester Street when a group of three males approached him. One of the males pointed a handgun at him and demanded his personal belongings, police said. The man was struck on the back of his head with the handgun, police said, and the suspects “stole the victim’s vehicle and several personal items.”
Officers pursue three vehicles
The stolen vehicle was located by police at a convenience store in the area of North Division Street. Officers tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle fled northbound on Philadelphia Avenue with two additional vehicles, police said.
All three vehicles crossed the Route 50 bridge leaving the town of Ocean City. During the pursuit, “stop sticks” were successfully deployed on one of the vehicles, Ocean City police said. This vehicle ultimately stopped in the West Ocean City area. The driver, later identified by police as Jaquawn Daney, 19, of Baltimore, fled on foot. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office located Daney, who was arrested by the Ocean City Police Department.
It was later determined that the vehicle Daney was driving was an unreported stolen vehicle from Somerset Street in Ocean City, police said.
Ocean City Police officers did not pursue the remaining two vehicles. Allied law enforcement agencies continued to assist with the two other vehicles.
The vehicle that was carjacked was later stopped by the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office in that county, and the driver, a 15-year-old from Baltimore, was arrested, police said. As of Nov. 19, the juvenile had yet to be charged in connection with incidents in Worcester and Wicomico counties.
A fiery crash and foot pursuits
Cambridge Police were alerted to the car chase that had originated in Ocean City and was headed toward Cambridge at about 5:10 a.m. Nov. 18.
Cambridge officers successfully deployed stop sticks and struck the remaining vehicle as it entered Cambridge, according to a Nov. 18 press release from the Cambridge Police Department. The vehicle, however, continued to elude police and traveled on several roadways within Cambridge before it finally came into the Black Water Landing development, police said.
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Near Caribbean and Maddison avenues, multiple occupants exited the vehicle while it was still in motion and fled on foot, police said. The vehicle then continued through a barrier fence and into a drainage ditch, where it had become engulfed in flames and there was a subsequent explosion, police said.
K9 and aviation units joined multiple police agencies in the search. A 14-year-old from Baltimore County was located and taken into custody on Race Street. In the 500 block of Goldsborough Avenue, a 17-year-old from Baltimore was located hiding in a vehicle parked in a driveway, police said. At the Cambridge Walmart, a 12-year-old from Baltimore was apprehended.
The 14-year-old, who was a reported missing person, and 12-year-old were released to their parents, according to police.
A stolen handgun, charges
During the investigation in Ocean City, officers discovered several other vehicles parked in the same area had been broken into. A handgun had been stolen in one of the vehicle break-ins, police said.
Cambridge Police officers located the stolen handgun and several other stolen personal items on the 17-year-old juvenile.
Numerous personal items were recovered from both the suspects and the vehicles involved, Ocean City police said. Officers traced the property back to vehicle break-ins in the Ocean City and Baltimore areas.
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The 19-year-old, Jaquawn Lashawn Daney, faces charges of armed robbery, robbery, carjacking, stealing property with value between $25,000 and $100,000, reckless endangerment, first- and second-degree assault, and two counts of unlawful taking of motor vehicle. Daney was seen by a Maryland District Court Commissioner and was held without bail. Daney was transferred to the Worcester County Jail.
Ocean City police said that the 17-year-old was waived to adult status and charged with the following: armed robbery, robbery, carjacking, stealing property with a value between $25,000 and $100,000, reckless endangerment, first- and second-degree assault, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, handgun in the vehicle, possession of firearm/ammo as a minor, and possession of a stolen firearm. The juvenile was seen by Maryland District Court Commissioner and held without bail. The juvenile was transferred to the Worcester County Jail.
