ELKTON — A judge has ordered a man to successfully complete a drug court program in a criminal case in which the defendant pointed what appeared to be real handgun at a man during a dispute at an Elkton motel in March, according to Cecil County Circuit Court records.
Cecil County Circuit Court Judge William W. Davis Jr. deferred sentencing after the defendant — Michael Anthony Rice, 37, of Rising Sun — pleaded guilty to second-degree assault Wednesday as part of a plea deal during a courtroom hearing.
Second-degree assault is a misdemeanor that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Instead of sentencing Rice, however, the judge deferred that phase of the criminal case and ordered the defendant to successfully complete Cecil County Adult Drug Court (CCADC), which is a program aimed at treating qualified defendants who are facing more than one year in jail.
CCADC is a voluntary program for offenders whose primary diagnosis is substance abuse. It is a post-plea program for defendants who reside in Cecil County. It can take a CCADC defendant up to two years to successfully complete the program, though some have needed more time, and graduation ceremonies periodically are held inside the courtroom.
In addition to subjecting themselves to random and scheduled drug testing and frequent courtroom sessions, which are staggered to accommodate as many as 80 people in the program, drug court defendants must undergo counseling and treatment through the Cecil County Health Department and meet specified goals, such as earning their GED and securing employment.
A drug court defendant can face penalties, including weekend stays in jail or longer, for the presence of drugs in a tested urine sample, failure to attend a meeting or courtroom session and other violations.
Rice’s criminal case, which had included three other charges against him, including first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, remains open, according to court records.
The investigation leading to Rice’s arrest and his conviction started at approximately 10:30 a.m. on March 13 when an Elkton Police Department officer heard a disturbance while patrolling through the parking lot of Motel 6 in the 200 block of Belle Hill Road, police reported.
As the officer approached the scene, a man pointed at Rice, who was standing in front of Room 133, and said, “He just pulled a gun on me,” according to court records.
The victim told the officer that he was present at that motet when his sister confronted Rice, who was her boyfriend, moments earlier regarding an issue in their relationship, police said. The victim also told the officer that Rice “got too close” to his sister during the dispute and that he intervened because he believe Rice was going to assault her, police added.
Rice allegedly swung at the intervening victim who, in turn, threw Rice to the ground, according to the victim’s account in court records.
At that point, Rice walked over to his 2004 Toyota Sienna van, grabbed a handgun from the front seat, pointed it at the victim and screamed, “I’ll kill you,” before placing the weapon back in his vehicle, court records show.
After he was handcuffed and placed in the patrol vehicle, Rice told the officer that it was BB gun, according to court records.
During a probable-cause search of Rice’s van, investigators found and confiscated a “black and silver handgun-style BB gun,” police reported.
“The handgun had a metal slide and significant weight to it. With my training, knowledge and experience, I find it reasonable to believe that the handgun would be perceived as real due to its accurate look consistent with a real firearm,” the arresting officer outlined in his written statement of probable cause, noting that the victim identified the confiscated BB gun as the one Rice had pointed at him.
Court records indicate that investigators reviewed video gleaned from a motel security camera and that the footage of the incident corroborated the account given by the victim.
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