WASHINGTON – Ocean City police reportedly tackled a pregnant woman during a disturbance on the beach that led to the arrest of three men.
Officials say the incident began after a lifeguard told police that when he approached a group of men at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday on the beach at North Division Street, one man threatened him. A police spokeswoman tells ABC 7 the lifeguard had asked a group that had been yelling and cursing to tone it down.
Police say they questioned the man, who cursed at the officers and tried to leave. Authorities say when officers tried to arrest the man, others began to act in a threatening manner. Police say two men assaulted officers, and the suspects were taken into custody.
Police say the pregnant woman also was assaulting officers during the disturbance, ABC 7 reports. The station says the unnamed woman required an emergency C-section after she was detained and will face charges of resisting arrest and assault.
A press release from the Ocean City Police Department about the beach incident did not include any details about the woman.
“We have full confidence at this point that our officers acted appropriately,” police spokeswoman Lindsay O’Neal tells ABC 7.
One of the men taken into custody was 25-year-old Abdul Kargbo of Woodbridge, Va., who has been charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Abdul Kargbo’s brother, 21-year-old Saidu Kargbo, also of Woodbridge, and 24-year-old Musa Seisay of Garrisonville, Md., were charged with resisting arrest, second-degree assault and other offenses.
Police say all three men were seen by a court commissioner and released on their own recognizance.
Members of the group, which ABC 7 reports included about 30 people, tell the station the police account of the incident is not true, that they were not disruptive and that they are considering legal action.
They also say the lifeguard made a comment consistent with profiling.
Watch video showing footage of the scuffle below, courtesy of ABC 7:
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
