OCEAN CITY, Md. -Ocean City officials are calling this weekend's H2Oi event one of the worst in recent years with some unruly and rowdy crowds taking to the streets.
So much so that Mayor Rick Meehan took to social media on Sunday in response to the unsanctioned H20i event held in the resort town over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mayor Meehan posted the following statement:
"What took place this past weekend in Ocean City can never happen again. This group came to town with the sole purpose to raise havoc in our community, to disrupt our lives and defy law enforcement. They placed our town, as well as our citizens and visitors. under siege and in danger which is unacceptable under any circumstances. Our town government, citizens, property owners and businesses must join together as one voice to take whatever action is necessary to stop this group from returning. This isn’t about just one weekend this is about our future.
I cannot say enough about the men and women of the Ocean City Police Department, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland State Police, Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland Transportation Police and the other allied agencies that were here this weekend. They went far beyond the call of duty in their attempts to enforce the law and to protect our community while at the same time placing themselves in harm’s way.
The Mayor and City Council must immediately begin working with Police Chief Buzzuro, City Manager Doug Miller and State Agencies to put a plan in place to stop this chaos. All potential actions should be considered. This includes, but should not be limited to, declaring a State of Emergency. I plan to speak with the Governor this week to discuss this in detail and ask for his assistance.
We cannot let what happened in Ocean City this weekend define us as a community. This must stop and it must stop now."
An Ocean City Police Department spokesperson said officers are working around the clock to maintain order--though Saturday was a tough one.
The spokesperson says police received a disorderly call at around 4:37 p.m. on 13th Street & Baltimore Ave where a large crowd estimated at a couple hundred people were gathered.
Ocean City police, along with numerous allied agency members, responded to the call and “Vacate” was requested to assist with disbursing the crowd.
Vacate is a type of pepper spray with a strong odor, the spokesperson said. According to the police department, the crowd was throwing rocks and bottles at officers on scene.
At least one officer was struck by a rock. Though the spokesperson says they were not injured and did not need to be seen by EMS.
Additionally, the spokesperson says one crowd member jumped on an OCPD vehicle. Crowds were blocking traffic on Baltimore Avenue and as the crowd broke up, the issue started floating between 13th and 33rd streets.
Officers were present in all the areas to keep the disruptive crowd moving. There were no arrests made in connection with this incident.
The spokesperson said the department's primary focus was breaking up the disruptive crowd for the safety of everyone. OCPD said it took close to an hour to break up all the crowds.
There was also a traffic stop that occurred during this time frame in the same area that did result in an arrest.