Structure Fire
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 1341 hours, Lacey Township Police, Forked River Fire Department, Lanoka Harbor Fire Department and Lacey Township EMS responded to the 800 block of Spar Drive for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival it was discovered that the rear deck and part of the residence was engulfed in flames. The sole resident of the home evacuated the premises and did not sustain any injuries. The Forked River Fire Department and Lanoka Harbor Fire Department extinguished the fire before it was able to spread past the rear wall of the residence. The Ocean County Fire Marshall and Lacey Township Detective Bureau will be conducting the investigation.
Structure Fire
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 15:07 p.m., Lacey Township Police Department responded to the Heritage Village Apartments at Seabreeze, located at 1031 North Newark Avenue in Forked River, for a report of smoke coming from a first floor apartment. The smoke was determined to be coming from an unoccupied apartment, where a pot was left on top of a stove that had been left on. Police, Fire, EMS, and the building manager evacuated the residents of the complex due to heavy smoke conditions. Lacey Township School Transportation responded to the scene with school buses to provide temporary shelter for the dislocated residents. The Forked River Fire Department cleared out the smoke and determined that the building was safe for the residents to return. The Ocean County Fire Marshall and Lacey Township Detective Bureau responded to the scene and determined the incident to be accidental. Lanoka Harbor Fire Department, Bayville Fire Department, and Lacey Township First Aid assisted at the scene.
Scam
On February 19, 2022, at 1051 hours, Officer D’Antonio responded to police headquarters for a report in the lobby. Upon arrival, Officer D’Antonio met with the victim who stated that she was looking to purchase a puppy and found one on a website. The victim selected a puppy to purchase and agreed to purchase the dog for $550. It was arranged to ship the puppy to Newark Airport from Virginia. Additional payments were also made totaling $750.00. The victim later realized it was a scam and reported it to the Lacey Police Department.
Fraud
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, Officer Carver was dispatched to the 900 block of Pelican Drive for a fraud related incident. The victim reported they received an email from Amazon.com. The email stated that their account had been compromised and they needed to log back into their Amazon account through the link provided within the email. The victim reported once logged in, the account requested a social security number for verification. The victim reported entering their social security number. The victim later realized the email was a scam and notified Amazon of the incident. At the time of the report no fraudulent activity had been found.
Motor Vehicle Stop/Warrant Arrest
On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at 21:23 hours, Officer Pandorf conducted a motor vehicle stop on Lakeside Drive East. Officer Pandorf spoke with the driver, Thomas Staunton (Age 33), of 25 Tilton Avenue, South Toms River, and learned he had a suspended driver’s license and three outstanding traffic warrants. The warrants were $1500 out of Southhampton Township, $750 out of Seaside Park Boro and $500 out of Mantoloking. Officer Pandorf placed Thomas under arrest, transported to Headquarters, and was processed. Each issuing agency released Thomas on his own recognizance. Thomas was charged with multiple motor vehicle violations and released.