Man convicted of assault, reckless endangerment at H2Oi event

A Man from Berlin found guilty of assault, reckless endangerment, and disorderly conduct after threatening crowds of people at last fall’s H2Oi Event.

Prosecutors with the State’s Attorney Office for Worcester County say Justin Hess parked in a bus lane, got out of his car and began harassing a group of people, pushing one person. Hess then pulled out what looked like a handgun and waved it at the crowd, before jumping back into his car.

Undercover Ocean City Police Officers tailed Hess until they could alert uniformed officers to pull him over. Police discovered Hess had a BB gun designed to look like a 9 mm handgun.

It took the jury 4 minutes to return a guilty verdict; Hess is now awaiting sentencing, and is facing a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison on the assault charges alone.