Man Uses Knife In OC Taxi Carjacking
OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on armed robbery and carjacking charges last weekend after threatening a taxi cab driver with a knife and taking his vehicle before eventually being caught by police in the ocean.
Around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, Ocean City Police responded to the area of 118th Street and Assawoman Drive for a reported carjacking incident. The unidentified cab driver told police he picked up a fare, later identified as Ian Edward Keim, 36, of Neville, Pa., at 49th Street. Keim allegedly grabbed the driver by the throat, brandished a knife and threatened the driver with it.
The driver stopped the vehicle in the area of 91st Street and was able to get out. Keim then got behind the wheel of the cab and started driving north on Coastal Highway.
Two people reportedly witnessed the incident and picked up the cab driver in their vehicle and followed Keim north on Coastal Highway.
Keim stopped the vehicle in the area of 118th Street and Assawoman Drive and fled on foot toward the beach. An off-duty Clarkstown, N.Y. police officer witnessed Keim leave the cab and contacted police while following him.
Police officers arrived searched the area for Keim, including in and around the crowded Carousel Hotel during the height of a weekend night. A surf fisherman on the beach observed Keim run into the ocean and directed police to his location.
Keim was found in the surf at around 119th Street and was placed under arrest. He has been charged with armed robbery and armed carjacking. He was taken before a District Court Commissioner and is being held on a $100,000 bond.