Office of the State's Attorney

Worcester County, Maryland

20-Year Sentence For Brutal Flagpole Attack Of Woman

SNOW HILL — A Maugansville, Md. has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for the brutal attack of a woman on a downtown Ocean City street last June.

Max Schindler of Maugansville, Md. was sentenced last Friday to 20 years in jail for the attack on a woman around 12th Street and Philadelphia Avenue. By Monday, Schindler had filed an appeal with the Court of Special Appeals and a motion for modification of his sentence.

Around 3:40 a.m. last June 3, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a reported active fight in the area of 12th Street. Officers located an apparent female victim who told police her boyfriend, later identified as Max Schindler, 40, of Silver Spring, was angry because of an incident that occurred earlier, but there had been no fight and refused to talk about the incident.

However, OCPD officers observed the victim and found her to have several injuries including cuts, places where pieces of skin were missing and fresh blood on her knee cap and legs. OCPD officers also observed a deep scratch mark on the victim’s shoulder blade and upper back along with a red mark near her eye that appeared to be turning into a black eye, according to police reports. The victim also had deep red marks all over her neck, upper chest area and arms.

While one officer was interviewing the victim, another officer was taking detailed statements from witnesses who had observed the altercation. According to witness reports, the victim and Schindler were having a verbal argument before Schindler tackled the victim to the ground. The witnesses told police Schindler punched the victim in the face with a closed fist and then grabbed her around the neck with both hands.

The witnesses told police Schindler continued to choke the victim with both hands for about 30 seconds while he stood over her and screamed in her face. According to witness statements, Schindler then picked the victim up off the ground by her neck, bringing her back to her feet. The witnesses told police Schindler then grabbed the victim around the neck and dragged her to the opposite side of the intersection.

Witnesses told police the victim was able to escape Schindler’s choke hold and ran across Philadelphia Avenue screaming for help. The witnesses told police the victim pulled a flagpole from the ground at a nearby apartment complex for self-defense.

However, witnesses told police Schindler grabbed the flagpole from the victim and began hitting her with it as if he was swinging a baseball bat, according to police reports. Witnesses said the flag fell off the pole and Schindler began stabbing and jabbing the victim with the end of the flagpole. The witnesses told police the victim was screaming for help and that she was in fear for her life.

At that point, the witnesses interceded, grabbing the victim off the ground and walking her away toward 12th Street, which is when the police arrived. Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser commended the OCPD officers for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Haskell for his successful prosecution of the case.