By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(March 19, 2026) A former employee of the Ocean Pines Clubhouse Bar and Grille was convicted of felony theft earlier this month following a 2025 investigation that revealed more than $13,000 in bank deposits had gone missing over several weeks.

On March 6, former clubhouse manager Grayson Ashley Mitchell, 39, of Ocean Pines, was found guilty in Worcester County District Court in Snow Hill after being charged with felony theft of $1,500 – $25,000.

The charge was issued in mid-August of 2025, after establishment management reported multiple deposits had not been completed.

An investigation was initiated by the Ocean Pines Police Department in early July 2025 that discovered the missing funds dated back to May 10, 2025, and totaled $13,715.

Mitchell, who at the time was a manager at the Clubhouse Bar and Grille, was found responsible for the missing deposits and was unable to provide an explanation to the authorities.

Mitchell was employed by Touch of Italy, the food-service management company overseeing the site’s operations. He was terminated when the allegations surfaced.

Touch of Italy owner Bob Ciprietti said that Mitchell began working for the restaurant group in the beginning of May 2025, when it took over as Ocean Pines’ food vendor. Prior to that, Mitchell was employed at the Clubhouse under the establishment’s former operator.

“We are very happy justice is being served,” Ciprietti told the Bayside Gazette this week. “Ocean Pines detectives and police did a great job assisting with the case and so did the prosecutor … As a company, we are happy and relieved that the message has been sent that we don’t condone this type of behavior … We were disappointed that it came to this, and we gave [Mitchell] every opportunity to come clean and they just couldn’t do it.”

Now that a guilty verdict has been reached, Mitchell is awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 15 at Worcester County District Court in Snow Hill.