Unofficial H2Oi ‘Distruptive’ and ‘Dangerous’: Ocean City officials

OCEAN CITY, Md. – ‘Out of control’ is how people on Sunday described this year’s unofficial H2Oi event in Ocean City.

“They’ve basically taken over the roads, getting in the way, squealing wheels,” said David Jerns, co-owner at the Tequila Mockingbird.

In an effort to keep the unsanctioned event under control this year, the town was designated as a special event zone, which means an increase in fines for drivers caught speeding.

Despite this the Ocean City Police Department says several police officers have suffered minor injuries, some hit by rocks and others had bottles thrown their way while trying to break up crowds.

“I see the videos at night of things going on downtown,” said Jerns, “It’s a lot, fights and what not.”

Following these scenes in Ocean City City, Mayor Rick Meehan has had enough.

He released a statement Sunday saying in part: 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.

“If we don’t get this under control, it seems it could very well get out of hand,” said Jerns.

Sunday morning, dozens of police officers were still out on the road, fining drivers. It is a situation neighbors say has been a nightmare for the resort town.

“I have girls who work for me and guys who work for me, and it’s taken them an hour, hour and a half to get home,” said Jennifer Bradshaw, manager at the Tequila Mockingbird.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan says he plans to speak with Governor Larry Hogan this week to make sure this does not occur again in the future.

The Ocean City Police Department, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Maryland Transportation Police, among others, worked to help keep things under control as much as possible this weekend.

Also, some local businesses are offering free meals to officers following this weekend’s events at the resort town.