Ocean City Bikefest delivers good times and tragedy

When officers tried to stop Ramirez, he fled on a motorcycle. The officers did not pursue Ramirez, but a description of him was relayed to officers.

A short time later, police said, there was a motorcycle collision at 100th Street and the victim was Ramirez.

He was flown by Maryland State Police Trooper 4 to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, where he died of his injuries.

State Police also responded to a motorcycle crash at approximately 4:40 p.m. on Sept. 15 in Whaleyville near Routes 50 and 610. A preliminary report of the crash found that Richard Banning, 61, of Virginia was traveling south on 610 on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a 69-year-old woman riding on the back.

Banning, police said, attempted to cross Route 50 when he was struck by a Nissan Rogue traveling westbound on Route 50.

Banning was flown to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for treatment of his injuries, where he died.

His passenger was flown to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional Hospital in Salisbury and treated for her injuries.

The accident remains under investigation.

Meanwhile, several motorcycle clubs, including the Pagans and Outlaws, were in town over the weekend. Police logged several incidents involving 1%ers, including the arrest of Joshua Earl Bignell, 33, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, who was arrested on Sept. 18 and charged a weapons violation.

Police also responded to the area of Eighth Street at 12:42 p.m. on Sept. 17 for a six-motorcycle crash that resulted in two lanes of Philadelphia being shut down for approximately 10 minutes.

The motorcycles were moved onto Eighth Street to allow officers to complete the accident exchange forms and no injuries were reported.

Just before the accident, police were called to 12th Street for “an intelligence-related incident.”

According to reports, rival motorcycle gangs were in the area, so officers responded as a proactive measure – no arrests were made in the incident, and a nearby restaurant ultimately decided to shut down for the evening.

Altogether, Ocean City Police reported that from Sept. 14-18, officers responded to 1,068 calls for service, of which 332 were from citizens and 736 initiated by the department.

Of those calls for service, 31 were accidents, 38 were arrests, and seven were DUIs.

This story appears in the Sept. 23, 2022 print edition of the OC Today.