Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
As beach season comes to an end in Ocean City local politicians are already looking for help from lawmakers to assure summer 2027 is as safe as possible. The mayor of Maryland’s only beachfront town is looking is looking to Annapolis to fight the “teen takeover” phenomenon that resulted in dozens of arrests, injuries and property damage this summer. Teen takeovers are large, organized meetups of teenagers at public places such as malls, parking lots, beaches and in the case of Ocean City, boardwalks. They are often initiated by social media posts that can display flashy AI generated flyers. Thousands of people can show up at these takeovers, which occur despite a lack of any organized planning. While most teens show up just to hangout, the takeovers are notorious for sparking fights, traffic blockages and vandalism. Once the mob mentality sets in it often takes dozens of police officers to disperse the crowd and places hundreds in danger.
The mayor lamented the fact that lawmakers failed to act in this year’s legislative session by passing laws that would target organizers. Rather than try to prevent the takeovers from occurring through deterrent legislation the Worcester County Sheriff, Ocean City Police and the State Police were forced to devote large resources to mitigating the damage caused by the takeovers. This summer there were 6 documented takeovers, which all resulted in multiple arrests. The first occurred in April where police arrested 4 people. The next month at a boardwalk takeover police made 37 arrests and recorded 10 different assaults and a stolen vehicle. June saw three different takeovers that totaled close to 200 arrests and more than 50 assaults. The July 4th Beach Party Takeover resulted in 79 arrests and 39 assaults.
While law enforcement is now better equipped to respond to potential takeover events through monitoring of social medial platforms, the goal of local Ocean City to criminalize knowingly organizing or promoting them so they don’t happen in the first place. This will not only protect the public but also juveniles and young adults who may up injured and/or facing criminal charges.
The Blog will continue to monitor legislation that targets teen takeovers in Worcester County and throughout the state. It would be a reasonable to predict that the issue will hit the floor in Annapolis as a stand-alone bill or within a larger juvenile justice type bill. The laws could provide similar punishments to the exhibition driving laws that were introduced for Special Event Zones in Ocean City. There may be rumblings of proposed legislation this fall, but otherwise we will follow the legislative session for any news in January. If you have been charged with a crime or traffic offense in Ocean City or anywhere on the Eastern Shore contact Maryland criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Herbst anytime for a free consultation. Benjamin specializes in representing juveniles and young adult defendants in offenses such as robbery, assault, DUI, reckless driving, theft, disorderly conduct, underage alcohol possession, trespass and open container violations who cannot afford the stain of a criminal conviction or juvenile delinquency finding. He has successfully represented hundreds of out-of-state defendants from states including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia who have been charged with crimes in Maryland. Benjamin is available 7 days a week to discuss any potential defenses that may be available in your case and can be reached at 410-207-2598. There are two district courts in Worcester County, including the Snow Hill District Court and the Ocean City District Court, and Benjamin has extensive experience with both locations and nearby jurisdictions such as Somerset and Wicomico Counties.
Resources:
Ocean City pushes Maryland Teen Takeover legislation by next summer, Baltimoresun.com.