Man who escaped holding cell was recaptured: Dewey Beach Police

A man brought to Dewey Beach Police Department for disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing escaped from a holding cell over Memorial Day weekend, according to Sgt. Cliff Dempsey. 

The man had refused to leave a restaurant the night of May 27, according to Dempsey. He was arrested with no incident and placed in a holding cell, where he ripped a hole through the wall and fled onto the street, Dempsey said.

A Freedom of Information Act request by Delmarva Now to release the man's name has been sent to the Town of Dewey Beach.

By now, the man's records have become "criminal history" under Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, Dempsey said, and so the department can longer release his name.

An officer went after the man on a 50-yard pursuit and after a brief struggle, the man was recaptured on Rodney Street, just west of the police department, police said.

He was apprehended within minutes, Dempsey said, and brought back to the police department. On top of his initial charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing, the man was also charged with escape, resisting arrest, offensive touching of a law enforcement officer and criminal mischief, Dempsey said. 

The damaged holding cell will be fortified, according to Mayor TJ Redefer, who said the town is having a local welder secure it with steel so that a similar incident "can never happen again."

"We must do more to have better facilities for our police department," he added.

The police department did not release a statement about the incident, and Dempsey said the only time statements are released is "if it’s a significant event or we need help locating someone."

A "significant" event would include the so-called Dewey Beach brawl that occurred the same night, moments after the escapee was recaptured by police. The two incidents were not related, Dempsey said.

Mayor TJ Redefer said the incident called attention to what policy the town should have on publicly reporting incidents like the escape.

Part of making Dewey Beach better, Redefer said, will be developing such procedures.

"Our goal isn’t to hide," he said. "It's to protect property and people first."