OCEAN CITY, Md. - An Ocean City woman accused of leaving the scene of a DUI crash that seriously injured a bicyclist in July has pleaded guilty to two charges on Thursday.
As WBOC previously reported, Ocean City Police were asking witnesses to come forward after a bicyclist was injured in a July 28 crash near Coastal Highway and 112th Street. Police said the driver left without assisting the victim or contacting authorities, though the suspect was not named at the time.
According to a probable cause statement obtained by WBOC, officers responded to the Rainbow Condominiums on Coastal Highway around 10:30 p.m. There, they found the bicyclist injured on the sidewalk.
The victim told police she had been riding her bicycle north on the sidewalk but could not remember the collision. Police described the victim’s mangled leg, multiple injuries to her arm, and a rapidly swelling bump on her head. She was taken to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, where hospital staff told police she had an open fracture of both bones in her lower left leg.
Investigators later found a silver 2015 Honda Accord registered to Katlinn Marie Barnes, 32, on the top level of the nearby Sea Watch parking garage, according to court documents. Police said the car had significant front passenger-side damage, a flat front tire, and a missing passenger-side mirror.
A mirror and sensor cover recovered at the crash scene fit the damaged Honda, investigators wrote. Surveillance footage also showed the car entering the garage around 10:20 p.m. with its passenger-side mirror missing.
Officers then went to Barnes’ listed Ocean City address where an officer saw someone reach out from a backyard shed and unscrew a motion-activated light bulb, according to the statement. Police searched the shed to find Barnes crouched inside, charging documents read.
Barnes was arrested just before 1 a.m. The arresting officer reported smelling alcohol and noted that her eyes were red and glassy, and a breath test later registered an alcohol concentration of 0.19, according to court documents.
Barnes was initially charged with multiple traffic violations on July 29 in Worcester County District Court and ordered held without bond. The case was ultimately forwarded to Circuit Court in late August.
During a Nov. 5 hearing, Barnes pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to remain at the scene of an accident knowing it might have resulted in serious bodily injury. Both are classified as traffic violations.
Barnes’ sentencing is currently scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9.
