By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Within the last month, the Ocean Pines Police Department has handled various traffic-related and community safety incidents. Last week, the group led efforts to find a missing 10-year-old boy, which resulted in his safe discovery.

On Saturday, Jan. 25, OPPD Chief Tim Robinson spoke at the Ocean Pines Association’s Board of Directors meeting, where he said that since the previous regularly scheduled OPA board gathering on Dec. 21, 2024, the department has responded to 132 traffic-related situations. Of these, 38 were for speeding, and 23 included stop signs or “some other kind of traffic control device” violation. The law enforcement team handled one DUI (driving under the influence) arrest, a suspended driver, and an uninsured driver.

Robinson noted that despite the number of traffic incidents this past month, there has been a silver lining.

“One thing I am pleased about is that we have had zero reportable motor vehicle collisions since our last board meeting,” he said.

The department responded to two vandalisms, one of which resulted in an arrest and two domestic assault cases. Robinson said that in one of the domestic situations, the law enforcement team had to “go back and re-arrest the individual because he returned to the house in defiance of a court order.”

Additionally, the OPPD responded to two thefts by fraud, which the chief said is “always concerning,” and a business burglary at a tobacco store in the Nicholas Lane shopping center.

The department was also busy this month responding to mental-health-related cases. Robinson said that since the December board meeting report, the group has dealt with nine calls involving emergency petitions or mental health work.

Furthermore, the police chief acknowledged last week’s search efforts to locate a 10-year-old boy with autism who went missing in the neighborhood and was last seen at around 4:05 p.m. Robinson said that he was notified a little before 5 p.m. of the situation and was pleased to see the widespread response from surrounding law enforcement teams and volunteer community members. The child was found safe a little past 8 p.m. that same night.

“One thing I was pleased about was that by the end of the day, we had about 50 people either from law enforcement or the volunteer fire department helping the search,” Robinson said. “We had the state police helicopter up; one of the first things they did was check the ponds to make sure he wasn’t in there. We also had the Ocean City Police Department with their thermal imaging drones checking the ground cover.”

As it turns out, the chief said, the young boy was in a garage. “That does bring a little comfort; he wasn’t out in the cold. He did come out after a while, and we did find him.”

The law enforcement leader acknowledged the assistance provided by the Maryland State Police search manager. Robinson said he was “very pleased” with the job done by the state official and his willingness to “drop what they were doing and come up [to Ocean Pines].”

Robinson also thanked the neighborhood residents for their response. According to Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department President Joe Enste, over 134 volunteers came out to the OPVDF’s South Station to lend a hand in the search.

“When I saw on social media that people were saying, ‘we’re on our way,’ it warmed my heart when I felt that everybody wanted to help,” Robinson said. “This is a great community, and I hope it’s a long time before we have something like this again.”