ELKTON — A judge has sentenced a man to time served — 94 days — for resisting arrest and a related offense that he committed during an incident at an Elkton motel in April 2023, according to Cecil County Circuit Court records.
Cecil County Circuit Court Judge William W. Davis Jr. imposed a maximum five-year sentence on the defendant — Robert L. Grubb, 25, now of Felton, Del. — for reckless endangerment and then suspended all but 94 days of the penalty during a courtroom hearing on Monday, court records show. In addition, the judge imposed a concurrent, maximum three-year sentence on Grubb for resisting arrest and suspended all but 94 days of that penalty, too.
Davis then placed Grubb on two years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $280 in restitution, according to court records.
Grubb pleaded guilty to those two misdemeanors in December as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed to dismiss 10 related charges, including the criminal case’s sole felony — disarming a law enforcement officer, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Grubb had stood accused of trying to remove a police officer’s gun from his holster during the incident.
Court records indicate that Assistant State’s Attorney Ellis Rollins and Grubb’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Jason Ricke, negotiated that plea agreement.
Elkton Police Department officers went to the Sunrise Inn at 262 Belle Hill Rd. at approximately 3:30 p.m. on April 30, 2023 after management complained that a man was lingering on the premises, although he was not renting a guest room, and that he refused to leave, police said.
Officers found Grubb seated outside of Room 304, where he claimed that he was renting a room, and they informed him that he needed to leave the property because he was trespassing, police added. (Grubb had a Perryville address at the time of the incident, court records show.)
“Grubb said, ‘And what if I don’t?’ Officers on scene responded by saying, ‘You will be arrested.’ Grubb responded, ‘What if I fight to the death?’ and then stood up with a guitar in his hands,” according to the original charging document.
Concerned that the guitar in Grubb’s hand could pose a risk of injury, one of the officers took the musical instrument away from him, police reported.
At that point, officers told Grubb that he was under arrest and instructed him to put his hands behind his back so they could handcuff him, according to police. But Grubb ignored the instruction and tried to flee, prompting officers to hold him, police said. Grubb, however, continued to struggle and started contorting his body, making it difficult for the officers to control him, police added.
When Grubb started to break from the officers, one of them took the suspect to the ground with a double-leg takedown, hoping that he and his fellow officers could better control Grubb while he was prone, police reported.
“Once on the ground, I felt my firearm holster being manipulated and moved. It was at that time that I heard (a fellow officer) say, ‘He’s reaching for your gun!’ the arresting officer outlined in a written statement of probable cause that he filed in court shortly after the incident.
The officer was able to grab Grubb’s left arm and push it to the ground, police said. At that point, police added, the officer put his right leg on top of Grubb’s left arm and pinned it to the ground.
Officers handcuffed Grubb, after he had been immobilized, and then took him to EPD’s headquarters on Railroad Avenue for processing, police reported.
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