OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
LIFESTYLE
OCEAN CITY SUNFEST Four-day festival features arts and crafts vendors, plethora of food and musical guests – Page 55
FREE
H2-Whoa Car event is off, but some will still come
PHOTO COURTESY DAN COLLINS
DOWNTOWN FLOODING, AS USUAL Cars plow through standing water on Philadelphia Avenue and South Division Street downtown, as Hurricane Jose’s offshore passing creates higher-than-normal bay tides on Wednesday.
Prostitution sting nets dozen ‘Tail Pipe Peaches’ and other Craigslist IDs used by police lead to meetings and arrests
By Katie Tabeling Staff Writer (Sept. 22, 2017) Eleven men and one woman have been charged with prostitution-related offenses, following a three-day police sting timed with last week’s OC BikeFest. Starting on Sept. 14, Ocean City Police Department detectives, posing as “Bike Week Beauty,” “Tail Pipe Peaches” and “Bike Week Beth,” placed several ads on craigslist.com that hinted at the possibility of sex services. The Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team, Maryland State Police,
and Homeland Security Investigations were also involved in the operation. Even though Craigslist closed its “adult services” category in 2010, sex workers often use the personals category for “massage and escort services.” When suspects responded to the advertisements implying sex for a price, undercover detectives exchanged emails and texts that settled the costs for various sex acts and meetings. Once the men arrived at the designated locations, usually hotels, condominiums or parking lots, they were arrested. Some of suspects caught in the sting were not seeking sexual activity, like one man who wanted “Bike Week Beth” to humiliate him while he was in lingerie for $100, according to police reports. When detectives arrested him on Sept. 14, he was wearing
“I was at bike week in Ocean City Md Saturday evening, I was bored and playing with my phone, I noticed a pretty girl on craigslist with the heading, Let Us Ride, being a biker I asked if she would like to go riding, she said she would like to meet and told me it would be 60 for hh [half-hour], sex was never mentioned by either of us, I said that's fine and possibly more depending on initial encounter. For all I knew she needed help with bills.” — Public conversation of one of the accused on online legal service, www.justanswer.com/law.
lingerie and fishnet-style stockings. Ocean City Police also arrested Richard H. Campbell 45, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania for allegedly using Craigslist to faciliSee OCPD Page 3
By Katie Tabeling Staff Writer (Sept. 22, 2017) Even though H2O International (H2Oi) car show has been postponed and won’t take place next weekend as originally scheduled, Ocean City officials are skeptical that next weekend will be calm. “I still think a lot of people will come down,” Councilman Matt James said. “Social media helps create underground events, and people have already booked hotel rooms. Even though we’ve never ap- “I still think a proved a permit lot of people for H2Oi in the will come past, they come down. Social media helps down here any- create underways.” ground events, The official and people car show for have already water-cooled booked hotel imported Euro- rooms.” pean cars is tra- — Councilman ditionally held Matt James at Fort Whaley campground in Whaleyville, but Ocean City’s streets are flooded with Volkswagens and Audis anyway, as participants cruise up and down what they call “the strip,” or Coastal Highway. Organizers last Thursday announced on its official website that H2Oi was “postponed until next year.” “We want to continue to offer the best in a show experience, and with changes in venue options and a diminishing timeline, it is necessary to delay the event until 2018,” the online statement said. “I personally cannot thank you enough for your continued support. I look forward to seeSee RESORT Page 7