A 23-year-old man is in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Ocean City.

Ocean City Police said Patrick Thomas, of Inwood, W. Va., was reaching over the railing to the balcony below when the incident occurred Thursday evening in the area of 25th Street and Baltimore Avenue. 

Thomas fell about 21 feet to the ground below. He was flown to Peninsula Regional Medical Center before being transferred to Shock Trauma, where he was listed in critical condition.

Police said alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the accident.