H2oi causes major disruptions in Ocean City, Mayor releases statement

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Ocean City police officers are out in increased numbers in the resort town this weekend, and that’s because a controversial car show is back in town.

Photos and videos posted to Facebook show cars at the H2oi event doing burnouts, fireworks being shot off from medians and large crowds gathered around.

In preparation for the return of H2oi, law enforcement designated the city as a Special Events Zone, meaning speed limits were reduced throughout the city and law enforcement were out patrolling in higher numbers.

Ashley Miller with the police department told 47 ABC, “Our officers and allied agencies are very busy with traffic enforcement along with handling numerous disorderly, noise related calls and city ordinance violations.”

Miller added, “I expect our officers to remain busy until late [Sunday] when we start to see them head home.”

On Sunday morning, Mayor Rick Meehan posted the following statement on Facebook:

“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.”