WEEKEND #12, 2007

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

2 CRITICALLY INJURED IN SUNDAY SURF

Two beach goers are in critical condition Sunday night after suffering spinal injuries in the surf.

A 16-year-old boy from Northern Virginia was reportedly discovered in the surf not breathing by Dewey Beach lifeguards. He may have been performing flips in the surf when the accident happened around 1:10 p.m. Sunday near Houston Street.

Tim Cooper, Sussex County EMS spokesman and Special Operations Coordinator, says the guards had performed CPR on the teen. He was taken by ambulance to the Rehoboth Elementary School ball field and flown to Christiana Hospital on Delaware Trooper 2.

About an hour later, a 50-year-old man from Linthicum, Maryland was discovered floating face-down in Ocean City's surf on the south side of the Atlantis near the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel.

After interviewing witnesses, Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin says there was only mild wave action in the area, and he suspects the man suffered a head injury when he dove into an on-coming wave and struck the surf.

A woman in the water spotted the man and immediately summoned assistance. Capt. Arbin says bystanders, including a nurse from St. Agnes Hospital, provided first aid in the seconds before lifeguards arrived. He added that their help saving the man was "amazing."

Once on shore, the man was in cardiac arrest. Capt. Arbin says the beach patrol shocked the man with one of its defibrillators. Paramedics arrived and loaded the man into an ambulance. At some point he regained a pulse, but was still not breathing on his own.

Both Cooper and Arbin say the prognosis in each case is difficult to predict.

BELOW: Bystanders watch as rescuers load the injured teen into the Rehoboth Beach ambulance on Houston Street.

REHOBOTH SURF INJURIES NOT SERIOUS

An ambulance responded to at least four beach injuries this weekend in Rehoboth Beach. None appeared to be life-threatening.

A 23-year-old man reportedly dove into the surf and injured his face around 5:25 p.m. on Sunday at Brooklyn Avenue. He was taken to Beebe Hospital with cuts to his face, and some tingling in his extremities.

On Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, a 30-year-old man injured his shoulder in the surf at Virginia Avenue around 3 p.m.

Around 5 p.m., ambulances responded for a 45-year-old woman injured in the surf on Baltimore Avenue and an 80-year-old woman with a shoulder injury in the Deauville beach area (shown below). She was taken to Beebe Hospital in good condition.

TOPLESS FEMALE SUNBATHER GETS WARNING

Three Rehoboth Beach police officers responded Thursday for a topless woman complaint on the beach in front of the Atlantic Sands just before 6 p.m. One officer tactfully spoke with the woman on the beach while the other two watched from the boardwalk.

One of the officers said the woman comes from France, and no charges would be filed. WGMD's Talk of Delmarva Blog Editor Maria Evans captured pictures of the woman before police had her cover up.

Here's what the city's ordinance says about topless bathing suits:

§ 198-13. Topless bathing suits prohibited.

No female over the age of five years shall wear a topless bathing suit or otherwise fail to cover her breasts with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the upper portion of the nipple.

DEWEY'S GOLD LEAF EVACUATED

For the second weekend in a row, a Rehoboth-Dewey hotel was the victim of a maliciously discharged fire extinguisher. Rehoboth Beach firefighters were summoned to the Best Western Gold Leaf in Dewey Beach around 12:40 a.m. on Saturday for a fire on the fourth floor. The entire hotel was being evacuated when firefighters arrived.

A firefighter investigating said over the radio that "It's going to be a fire extinguisher somebody's pulled and extinguished all over the fourth floor." The extinguisher particles set off the smoke alarm. They found no evidence of a fire. Last weekend, the Avenue Inn & Spa in Rehoboth Beach was the victim of a similar prank.

Photo by Jeremy Settle, WCAV News Director/ News Anchor

PEDESTRIANS STRUCK IN DEWEY BEACH

Two pedestrians were struck on Route 1 in Dewey Beach during a four-hour period this weekend. Neither was seriously injured.

The first person was struck near Read Street around 9:15 p.m. Saturday and was taken to Beebe Hospital.

A 20-year-old woman was hit at Dagsworthy Street around 1:20 a.m. Sunday (below). Dewey Beach police broadcast a lookout for a Pontiac Grand Prix with Virginia tags and damage to its right-side mirror. It may have last been seen on New Orleans Street.

A woman was struck around 4 p.m. on Friday farther north on Route 1 near Coldwell Banker outside of Rehoboth. She was taken to Beebe Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Cell phone video of this incident.

Photo by Jeremy Settle, WCAV News Director/ News Anchor

SERIOUS CRASH ON THE FORGOTTEN MILE

A 49-year-old local man was seriously injured when he was involved in an auto accident on southbound Route 1 near the Sea Esta IV Motel between Dewey and Rehoboth around 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Tim Cooper, Sussex County EMS spokesman and Special Operations Coordinator, says the man was flown to Peninsula Regional Medical Center. Delaware Trooper 2 landed on Route 1. The roadway didn't completely reopen for about an hour.

Photos by Jeremy Settle, WCAV News Director/ News Anchor; and Greg Seaby

MILLS, COLUZZI WIN; INCUMBENT GOSSETT LOSES

Votes in the Rehoboth Beach municipal election were counted and witnessed after the glass doors closed in convention hall at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Wayne Steele, election judge, reads the results publicly almost 20 minutes after voting ended.

THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN DEWEY, REHOBOTH

Many restaurants and shops were forced to close after a fire at the Delmarva Power sub-station on Route 1 outside Rehoboth Beach. A power failure happened during the heat wave around 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, and was followed by several reports of smoke in the area of the power sub-station (below).

Rehoboth Beach firefighter Chuck Snyder has a photo gallery posted on the fire company's Website of the transformer fire including pictures taken inside the sub-station.

All of Dewey Beach lost power, and much -- but not all -- of Rehoboth Beach as well.

As the night wore on in Dewey Beach, a line of hundreds of ticket holders waited outside the Bottle & Cork for the Dropkick Murphys sell-out performance. The management of the Bottle & Cork had decided to supply its own power. The bar hired an electrical contractor and ordered a couple generators to power the entire restaurant. One officer described one of the generators as so big it could power the entire city.

The Dewey Beach police chief had expressed safety concerns about what to do with the performance, given the circumstances. He said the mayor would have to make the final decision. A fire marshal was in town and assisted in the decision-making process. Additional Dewey Beach police officers were called in to direct traffic on the dark and dangerous Route 1 intersections. The officers eventually ran out of flares and had to request more from the state police.

The show at the Bottle & Cork went on as planned, although the doors did not open at 8 p.m. as originally planned. A sell-out crowd of about 800 fans waited in a line that stretched from the Bottle & Cork past the Dewey Beach Liquors and along the dark street at 8:30 p.m. (below).

Meanwhile, the Dewey Beach Liquors store next to the Bottle & Cork switched to a cash-only operation. It looked almost like a drug deal, when customers came in the dark with cash in hand purchasing beer at the front door by flashlight -- but only after they were properly "carded."

In Rehoboth Beach, Sgt. Mike Corbin took seasonal officers off traffic stops, and later assigned them to go to each hotel in town to tell them that a cooling center was established at the city's convention center.

Red Cross volunteers, including commissioner candidate Stan Mills, managed the incoming visitors. The city and the Red Cross provided refreshments. Mills said 72 people came to the center. All were tourists staying in accommodations within the city and needed a cooler place to stay. The last family left around 2:30 a.m. as electricity was restored in their section of the city.

TWO MORE LUNCH-TIME TOWS FROM LIFEGUARD PARKING

Coastal Towing hooks up a navy blue Subaru Outback with Maryland tags on Pennsylvania Avenue which was reported around 1 p.m. on Saturday. It displayed a valid Rehoboth Beach parking permit on its rearview mirror.

Around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Coastal Towing removed this red Ford Expedition on Brooklyn Avenue. It had more than 90 minutes remaining in the parking meter when it was towed to the city's impound lot.

SPARROW ON SUSSEX ST

This little guy has trouble with its right wing, but still flies short distances. Look out for it on Sussex Street in Rehoboth.