WEEKEND #9, 2008
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
BODY FOUND IN NORTH SHORES SURF
Lifeguards brought a man's body to shore near the jetty between North Shores and the Henlopen Acres Beach Club around 2:50 p.m. Saturday.
Police, lifeguards and the Coast Guard had already been searching off Dewey Beach for the man who was last seen entering the water around 1 a.m. Friends said that was the last they saw of him.
In the description police provided they said the 27-year-old man entered the water nude and was extremely intoxicated.
After the man's clothing was discovered on the beach at Dagsworthy Avenue, the Coast Guard started searching around 1 p.m. with two patrol boats and a helicopter.
The man's parents came down from New Castle County late Saturday afternoon to meet with police at Troop 7.
Lifeguards and Rehoboth Beach EMS workers covered the body with a blanket, and then shielded it with blue beach umbrellas while they waited for police.
Some beach goers stopped to watch while others continued with their usual beach activities.
Coast Guard 25-foot and 41-foot patrol boats from Station Indian River had been searching off Dewey Beach, but later moved to North Shores while Dewey Beach police attempted to positively identify the man's body. This rocky jetty is about 2.5 miles north of Dagsworthy Avenue, where the man was last reported about 14 hours earlier.
Earlier in the afternoon, around 1 p.m., Dewey Beach lifeguards checked the water on surfboards and from the beach, while the Coast Guard scanned the Dewey Beach surf.
REHOBOTH REINOS GO ON THE FRITZ
More than a dozen Reino multi-space parking meters on Rehoboth Avenue stopped working early Saturday evening -- affecting many parking spaces in the first two blocks. Ticket writers were told to ignore those areas while both parking meter techs trouble-shooted the failures.
It took more than two hours before the techs reset the meters, only to have two or three fail again.
Parking meter techs discussing the failures over the radio indicated that the problem could be related to the Reino's optional ability to accept credit cards which the city has been planning to implement.
So far only Reino R-2 and R-4, which are on the south side of the bandstand, have an electronic reader for credit cards. The city's plan has been to equip the other Reinos in the first two blocks of Rehoboth Avenue with credit card readers and related communication equipment which may have caused the problem.
One of the parking meter techs attempts to service Reino I-4 on the island in the first block of Rehoboth Avenue (above). Moments later, this couple calls the parking meter department (per meter's instructions) when Reino I-7 failed. She asked if they'd get a ticket while eating dinner.
SERIOUS SURF INJURIES CONTINUE
At least one person medevac'ed every day since Wednesday
As experts predicted, the recent tropical activity increased the dangers for those entering the surf this past week. Every day since Wednesday at least one person was injured seriously enough that they were flown to a trauma center.
A 92-year-old man suffered a critical spinal injury on Wednesday. It happened around 4 p.m. on the beach in front of the Henlopen Hotel. Tim Cooper, Sussex County EMS spokesman, says the state police helicopter, Trooper 2, flew him to Christiana Hospital.
After guards removed the man from the beach, the helicopter landed at the Rehoboth Elementary School (below).
The other five incidents:
Thursday, just before 11:30 a.m., a beach goer suffered a serious neck and back injury at 3rd Street in Ocean City.
Thursday, 3 p.m., a 55-year-old man injured his neck in the surf at Sea Colony’s Harbor House. He was flown to Christiana.
Friday, 12:25 p.m., a person injured in the surf at Cedarwood Street in Bethany was flown to Christiana.
Saturday, around noon, at 110th Street in Ocean City, a 52-year-old man from Annapolis was pulled from the surf in cardiac arrest after he struck his head while body surfing. He was revived by Ocean City lifeguards. Capt. Butch Arbin says the man was conscious and talking when flown to Baltimore Shock-Trauma Center.
Sunday, just before 5 p.m., a man came to the lobby of the Golden Sands in Ocean City with a potentially serious neck/back injury.
REHOBOTH CANDIDATES DISCUSS ISSUES
More than 90 people attended the annual Rehoboth Beach Homeowners' Association candidate forum moderated by RBHA VP Greg Gause at the All Saints Episcopal Church on Friday evening. Gause said it was one of the best turnouts ever.
Newcomer Lorraine Zellers and incumbents Dennis Barbour and Ron Paterson are competing for two commissioner seats. Current commissioner Paul Kuhns is challenging Mayor Sam Cooper for his title.
The candidates faced off earlier in the week at a forum sponsored by the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. Save Our City has posted the audio from that discussion on its Website. The election is August 9.
HONDA ACCORD REPORTED STOLEN, MERELY "MISPLACED" ON MARYLAND AVENUE
While it is not unusual for visitors to misplace their car, it is unusual for it not to be found and actually get reported to the FBI's NCIC computer system as stolen.
Rehoboth and state police broadcast lookouts for this "stolen" 1995 Honda Accord on Friday. The woman claimed she parked in front of the Admiral Hotel on Baltimore Avenue. It was later discovered on Maryland Avenue between the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel and the Atlantic Sands Hotel. She's seen below backing out of a parking space (with an expired meter) around 1:45 p.m.
It would have been the second vehicle stolen in Rehoboth Beach this summer. Det. Kevin Jones says the Volkswagon Jetta reported stolen on Saturday, June 21 has yet to be located. The dark blue Jetta, with Washington DC tags “CE9847,” was stolen from Canal Street.
POLICE RESPOND TO LAUREL STREET SINK HOLE
That's Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Paul Kuhns with a resident discussing this sinkhole in front of 308 Laurel Street Sunday evening. She said she and a neighbor each reported the hole to the city on Wednesday or Thursday.
Sgt. Jack Bushey personally responded Sunday evening to investigate. That's when the orange cones were put in place. The opening is only about six-inches wide, but the cavity is wider beneath the surface.
WHO'S HANGING SHOES ON REHOBOTH'S BALTIMORE AVENUE?
MELTDOWN ON REHOBOTH AVENUE
