NEWS RELEASE

Complaint # 89-09-002132 08/29/2009

On August 29, at 0140 hours, a concerned citizen approached police officers at the Rusty Rudder. This witness stated there was a naked female screaming for help approximately one hundred yard west of the Rusty Rudder dock in the Rehoboth Bay. He stated he attempted to swim to her and help, but when he arrived she became combative and was acting very despondent.

Several officers of the Dewey Beach Police Department responded to the dock and had visual contact with the female. It appeared to the officers that the female was caught in the tide as she was drifting further away from the dock. Eventually the officers lost sight of her. The Rehoboth Beach Fire Department was contacted and they informed a rescue vessel had been dispatched but had not left the station. Two Dewey Beach Police Officers and a off duty member of the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Department gained access to life vests and a rescue ring from a docked vessel. They entered the water and searched for her. This decision was made based on her unknown mental and physical state. When the officers located her, she was approximately 250 yards from the dock in approximately eight feet of water and was drifting west. She was crying and refused to come with the officers. After negotiating with her for approximately 10 minutes they finally were able to secure her in the rescue ring. She was swam back to the dock where they were met by a Bethany Beach Rescue vessel.

Using a docked vessel as a platform to remove the female from the water, she was assisted out by a Sussex County Paramedic. Conducting an initial exam of the female on the vessel she became very disorderly and combative and assaulted the paramedic. She was immediately detained, walked off the dock and brought to the RBFD Ambulance. In the ambulance she continued to act disorderly and was transferred to a Dewey Beach Police Transport Van.

The Dewey Beach Police transported her Beebe Medical Center. There she was given a physical and psychological exam. She was charged by the Dewey Beach Police Department and transported to the Justice of the Peace Court #3 where she was committed to the Sussex County Correctional Institution in default of a $2500.00 secured bond.

Defendant

Rachel Decenzi (WF 30 of Media PA)

Charges

Offensive Touching of medical personnel
Disorderly conduct
Resisting Arrest

Sgt. Clifford Dempsey
Dewey Beach Police Department