Police-Blotter-1

Weekly Police Blotter

May 11th thru May 17th, 2016

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  • Convicted Felon in Possession of an AK-47 Assault Weapon (Arrest) – On Sunday, May 15, 2016, the Lacey Township Police Department led a multi-agency task force covering in excess of 60 square miles of rural wooded area in Lacey Township and Ocean Township within Ocean County. The focus of the detail was on the detection and deterrence of criminal activity, trespassing, and off-road vehicle violations in the Pinelands and on private property. The task force was made up of law enforcement officers from the Lacey Township Police Department with the assistance of the Ocean Township Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, the New Jersey State Park Police, and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.

    At approximately 1:05 p.m., on Sunday, May 15, 2016, a patrol team from the task force, made up of the above agencies and led by Lacey Police Sergeant Paul Sullivan, Jr. and Lacey Police Senior Officer Michael Eden, observed a suspicious vehicle within the wooded area in Lacey Township. The vehicle was a 2007, Hyundai Tucson which was pulled off of the path into a field along the woods on Bryant Road in Lacey Township within the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area. Upon further investigation, the task force officers located two individuals in the wooded area approximately 100 yards from the parked vehicle. One subject, identified as Bruce J. Post, 3rd, was wearing combat gear and gave indications of possible white-supremacist involvement. Upon speaking with the two subjects and determining their activities to be suspicious, the officers then discovered an AK-47, a Walther P38 9mm handgun, eight 30-round high-capacity magazines, and one 100-round drum magazine, and various forms of ammunition at the scene within the woods where the subjects had just emerged. Officers arrested 42-year-old Bruce J. Post, 3rd of Exton Avenue in Trenton (Hamilton), NJ for several criminal offenses. He was transported to the Lacey Township Police Department for processing. The second individual, identified as a 38-year-old male from Trenton (Hamilton), NJ, was detained at the scene and not arrested as the investigation continued.

    Bruce J. Post, 3rd was processed at the Lacey Township Police Department by Officer Michael Eden and Detective Keith Pearce. Bruce J. Post, 3rd was charged with the 1st Degree Crime of Unlawful Possession of Weapons (Certain Persons not to Possess Weapons – Felon), along with the second degrees offenses of Unlawful Possession of Weapons (handgun), Unlawful Possession of Weapons (Assault Weapon – AK-47), and Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons (Felon). Additionally, he was charged with the 4th Degree Crime of Possession of Prohibited Weapons and Devices (High Capacity Magazines). His bail was set in the amount of $400,000 with no 10 percent option. Bruce J. Post, 3rd was lodged in the Ocean County Correctional Facility in default of the bail.

    The investigation is continuing and additional charges against the second individual who was located at the scene are pending further investigation by Lacey Police. The vehicle, which belonged to Bruce J. Post, 3rd, was impounded for further processing. Shovels and tarps were also found in the possession of Bruce J. Post, 3rd. Based on the suspicious nature of the entire encounter, a thorough K-9 and foot search was conducted in the area the subjects were located. The additional search did not reveal any further evidence. Based on Bruce J. Post’s well publicized past history out of Trenton and Hamilton, NJ, the Lacey Township Police Department is asking anyone with information that might be helpful to this investigation to contact Lieutenant Michael DiBella or Officer Michael Eden of the Lacey Township Police Department at 609-693-6636. Two additional searches have been conducted in the general area of the encounter in the days that followed with the assistance of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and the New Jersey State Police.

    The multi-agency task force that led to this arrest was established three weeks ago by the Lacey Township Police Department due to the increasing trespassing by persons in off-road vehicles, fire hazards, and criminal activity within the rural wooded areas west of the Garden State Parkway in Lacey Township. The details will continue in the weeks to come.

  • Missing Person (Accidental Drowning) –On Thursday, May 12, 2016, at 10:26 p.m., the Lacey Township Police Department received a call that 72-year-old Kuo Chun-Mei Tsai (Asian female) was not at her Constitution Drive home in Forked River and the family could not locate her after they searched the area for more than two hours. Once notified, the Lacey Township Police Department coordinated a search of the area with the assistance of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department K-9 units and the New Jersey State Police Aviation (Helicopter) unit. A check with neighbors in the area revealed that she was observed walking with her cane on Constitution Drive earlier in the evening. Checks of all of the properties and stores in the area yielded no results. She was reported by family to not understand or speak English (only Chinese) and said to have just moved into the area from Weehawkin, NJ. She had only been in the United States since October of 2015. She was said to be completely unfamiliar with the area and had significant mobility impairment. The coordinated search efforts continued throughout the night and into the early morning hours.

    It appears many residents saw her walking in the nice evening weather between 4:15 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. when she was last observed near the area of Cabot Street where her cane was eventually located. Members of the public reported last seeing her on Nautilus Boulevard near Cabot Street in Forked River. Her cane was subsequently located on a dock at the South Branch of Stouts Creek at the end of Cabot Street. The search efforts extended from Thursday, May 12, 2016, at 10:26 p.m. when the Lacey Township Police Department was notified of her disappearance through to 6:24 a.m. on Friday, May 13, 2016, when the body was discovered in the waterway. A resident of Winthrop Drive (two blocks east of Cabot Street), upon daybreak, observed the victim floating deceased in the South Branch Stouts Creek across the waterway behind his house. The Lacey Township Police Department was notified at 6:24 a.m., on Friday, May 13, 2016, of the discovery. The family was advised and the victim was removed from the water by authorities. Detective Kymberly Gudgeon of the Lacey Township Police Department handled the investigation with the assistance of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU), Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office. The Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the death as an accidental drowning.

  •  DUI (Arrest) – On Monday, May 16, 2016, at 10:57 p.m., Officer Jason Lee was on patrol in the area of Route 9 in the Forked River section of the township when he observed a vehicle failing to maintain its lane of travel. Officer Lee conducted a motor vehicle stop of the vehicle on Route 9 near the intersection of Parker’s Point Boulevard. Investigation at the scene led to the arrest of 63-year-old Richard C. Johnson of Princeton Park in Lawrenceville, NJ, for DUI. Richard Johnson was transported to Lacey Township Police Headquarters and the vehicle he was driving was impounded pursuant to John’s Law. Richard Johnson was processed and charged with DUI, Reckless Driving, Failure to Maintain Lane, and Consuming an Alcoholic Beverage While Driving.

  • Shoplifting (Arrest) – On Friday, May 13, 2016, at 2:23 p.m., Officer Jesse Dalziel responded to Shop Rite, 348 Route 9 North in Lanoka Harbor, for a report of Shoplifting. The Loss Prevention Employee reported an incident of Shoplifting that occurred on May 9, 2016 and supplied the officer with video surveillance footage. The white male suspect loaded a shopping cart with numerous pieces of store merchandise with a total value of $415. The suspect was identified as 39-year-old William J. Hoefsloot of Parkside Drive in Forked River, NJ. William Hoefsloot was located at his residence and upon further investigation was placed under arrest for Shoplifting. William Hoefsloot was transported to Lacey Township Police Headquarters where he was processed and charged with Shoplifting.

  • Drug Possession (Arrest) – On Friday, May 13, 2016, at 8:38 p.m., Officer Jesse Dalziel was on patrol when he observed a vehicle speeding in the area of Lacey Road and Caldwell Avenue in the Forked River section of the township. Officer Dalziel conducted a motor vehicle stop of the vehicle on Route 9 near Station Drive. While speaking with the driver, 23-year-old Thomas B. Murray of Lincoln Street in South Amboy, NJ, Officer Dalziel smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Investigation at the scene led to the arrest of Thomas Murray for Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Thomas Murray was transported to Lacey Township Police Headquarters where he was processed and charged with Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of CDS in a Motor Vehicle.

  • Warrant Arrest – On Friday, May 13, 2016, at 10:29 p.m., Officer Christopher Meyler was on patrol when he stopped a vehicle on the 200 Block of Nantucket Road in the Forked River Beach section of the township. The driver of the vehicle was identified as 33-year-old Robert G. Askins of Scotchpine Drive in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. Investigation at the scene led to the arrest of Robert Askins on an outstanding Ocean Township Municipal Court warrant in the amount of $120. Robert Askins was transported to Lacey Township Police Headquarters where he was processed and released after posting bail.

  • Warrant Arrest – On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at 8:51 p.m., Officer Elton Copes was on patrol when he conducted a motor vehicle stop of a vehicle on Lacey Road near the Garden State Parkway. Investigation at the scene led to the arrest of the driver, 38-year-old William J. Perrini of 225-A Leeward Road in Manahawkin, NJ, on an outstanding Little Egg Harbor Township Municipal Court warrant in the amount of $156. William Perrini was transported to Lacey Police Headquarters where he was processed and released after posting bail.

  • Theft – On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at 4:01 p.m., Officer Dalziel responded to a Beach Boulevard residence for a report of Theft. The victim reported that prior to contacting the police, she observed a male and female run onto her property and steal a “Donald Trump” sign that she had displayed in her yard. The sign was valued at $1.

  • Hit & Run Accident & False Reports – On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at 9:54 a.m., Officer Frederick Scott Anderson responded to Lacey Police Headquarters for a report of a Hit & Run motor vehicle accident. 40-year-old David Laveglio of  2nd Street in Waretown, NJ, reported that earlier in the morning, between 8:15 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., he parked his vehicle in the parking lot of Home Depot, 244 Route 9 North in Forked River, NJ. Upon returning to his car approximately 10 minutes later, he reportedly discovered that it had been struck by an unknown vehicle that reportedly left the scene. Officer Anderson checked David Laveglio’s vehicle and determined that the extent of the damage was not consistent with the story that David Laveglio had provided to him. Further investigation revealed that the vehicle driven by David Laveglio had been involved in a hit & run collision that occurred the evening before, in which a vehicle ran off the road and struck a speed limit sign on the 100 block of Manchester Avenue. The driver fled the scene in the vehicle and failed to report the collision. Significant pieces of the vehicle had been left at the scene which matched up with the gray, 2008, Chrysler 300 that David Laveglio had driven to police headquarters. Formal charges are pending completion for the filing of the false police report and other related motor vehicle offenses.

  • Warrant Arrest – On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at 9:39 p.m. Officer Christopher Meyler responded to a Beach Boulevard residence in the Forked River Beach section of the township for an ambulance call. While at the scene it was discovered that a resident, 29-year-old Joseph M. Hover of Beach Boulevard had an outstanding Ocean County Sheriff’s Department No Bail warrant. Joseph Hover was placed under arrest and turned over to the custody of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department.