Aerial view of the Ocean City Inlet. (WBOC Chopper 16 File Photo)OCEAN CITY, Md.- Authorities say a man was killed and his toddler son injured Tuesday after they slipped and fell from a sea wall onto a bed of rocks at the Ocean City Inlet.
Ocean City police on Wednesday identified the victim as 49-year-old Stephen Richard Ostan of Marcus Hook, Pa.
Ostan's death stemmed from an incident that occurred at around 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Ocean City Inlet. Police and other emergency officials were called to the inlet after receiving a report that there were people in the water just east of the ticket booth area. When crews arrived on the scene, they found out that a man and a small child had been walking along the sea wall at the inlet when the pair fell from the sea wall.
Police said the victim, later identified as Ostan, and his 2-year-old son, struck the rocks during the fall. Witnesses told police that the child was in the water clinging to the rocks below the retaining wall when an unidentified female climbed down the sea wall and pulled the child off of the rocks. The female was able to pass the child to other people on top of the retaining wall.
Authorities said a privately-owned boat with two citizens attempted to recover Ostan, who had an apparent head injury. At this time, the citizens were assisted by members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol and the Ocean City Fire Department. In addition, a boat and crew from Surf Side Parasail assisted with the recovery of Ostan, who was put on the parasail boat and taken to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Ocean City.
Ostan's son was taken by Ocean City Emergency Services to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and released.
Ocean City paramedics met the rescuers at the Coast Guard station and transported Ostan to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause and manner of death will be investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland.
The investigation, which is being handled by the Ocean City Police Department, is ongoing.
Police said that due to the nature of the investigation, the names of the witnesses and citizens involved are not being released at this time.
