Man, Woman Assaulted Outside Rehoboth Restaurant; 2 Suspects Arrested

Joshua Daniels

A fight at an establishment on Coastal Highway has led to the arrests of two men.

Delaware State Police said troopers were called to Big Chill Surf Cantina early Christmas morning about reports that two people were struck in the face by man with a pistol and that one suspect fired a weapon. A trooper stopped a vehicle that had left the scene, and smelled marijuana.

According to police, 25-year-old Joshua Daniels of Lincoln , a passenger, tried to flee and resisted arrest. Another passenger, 24-year-old Malik Rothwell of Ellendale, also tried to flee, police said.

A search of the vehicle, according to police, turned up a semi-automatic handgun, a revolver, some heroin and marijuana.

State Police said Daniels and Rothwell were involved in an altercation with a man and a woman who were leaving the restaurant and that Daniels struck both of them in the face with a handgun, and Rothwell pointed a gun into the air and fired one round.

Delaware State Police released these charges:

Joshua R. Daniels

• Three Counts- Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
• Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited (Felony)
• Two Counts- Assault Second Degree (Felony)
• Two Counts- Aggravated Menacing (Felony)
• Conspiracy First Degree (Felony)
• Terroristic Threatening
• Resisting Arrest
• Possession of Marijuana- Civil Violation

Daniels was arraigned in the Justice of the Peace Court #3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $84,100.00 secured bond.

Malik R. Rothwell

• Three Counts- Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
• Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited (Felony)
• Two Counts- Reckless Endangering First Degree (Felony)
• Two Counts- Aggravated Menacing (Felony)
• Conspiracy First Degree (Felony)
• Terroristic Threatening
• Resisting Arrest
• Possession of a Controlled Substance
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Rothwell was arraigned in the Justice of the Peace Court #3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $107,200.00 secured bond.

Once the suspects were in custody, a search of the vehicle was conducted with the following items located inside:

• 1- Ruger EC9S 9mm semiautomatic handgun with 8 9mm rounds in the gun’s magazine
• Approximately 6.02 grams of Marijuana
• 1 Colt Detective Special .38 special revolver containing 5 loaded .38 special rounds
• 1 .38 special casing
• Approximately 0.077 grams of Heroin