By Charles Layton
Authorities confirmed on Thursday that, because of the amount of damages involved, the five people accused of rock-throwing vandalism will likely be turned over to Monmouth County for prosecution.
Lt. Gerald Preston of the Spring Lake Police Department said the rash of window breaking in recent months was spread over 23 towns, including Ocean Grove. All but one of those towns (Brick) are in Monmouth County, he said. All told, more than 150 separate incidents were reported.
However, as of now, the suspects arrested last Friday — all in their teens and 20s — have only been charged with two counts each of criminal mischief, for breaking a car window and a house window in the Pitney Avenue/First Avenue area of Spring Lake. Further charges will have to come from investigations in the other 22 towns.
In Ocean Grove, more than 30 windows of cars and homes have been broken in January through March of this year. All of the incidents happened late at night.
Preston said that the five who were arrested had all confessed in video interviews to “almost every one” of the crimes. At the time the interviews were made, police in Spring Lake did not have a complete list of every separate window-smashing case, but “we knew there were incidents in all these towns,” Preston said.
“They all knew they were caught,” he said of the five suspects, “so they were all pretty contrite. You just knew by their faces they were in big trouble.”
He said the arrests resulted from a call to Spring Lake police last Friday, just a few minutes after midnight. “Our guys were responding to a report of a broken house window,” he said. When Officers James Heine and Christopher Kucinski arrived at the scene, they spotted two young people hiding behind a black Ford Escape SUV. One of the officers “saw their feet,” Preston said.
Three others were soon rounded up in the immediate area. “A bag of rocks was inside the car — all round paving stones, about softball size,” Preston said. “A whole backpack full of them, 20 or 30 rocks.”
Two of those arrested in Spring Lake: Philip Williams and Lauren Magaw. Photo from Facebook
Asked what reason the suspects gave for the random smashing of windows, Preston said they gave no reason, and “it wouldn’t be a question we would ask them.”
The number of incidents and the amount of damage would classify the crimes as an indictable offense, he said, which is more serious than the kinds of crimes normally handled by a municipal judge. Indictable offenses are handled by the County Prosecutor’s Office and are heard in Superior Court. If a trial results, it would be a trial by jury.
One of those arrested was a juvenile, 17 years old, from Neptune. He was released to his father. The other four were identified as Tyler Emmons, 18, of Neptune; Lauren Magaw, 21, of Neptune; Philip Williams, 24, of Neptune, and James Turetzkin, 19, of Neptune City. Those four were released on summonses to appear later in Spring Lake Municipal Court.
Once all of the information is compiled from the various towns involved, the total amount of damage from all known incidents could be considerable. Starnewsgroup.com reported on Thursday that 33 incidents have been recorded in the township of Wall alone, causing estimated damage in excess of $20,000.
Neptune is reviewing the information provided by Spring Lake police, as are other towns. Whatever charges are brought will be referred to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, officials said.
Ah, could these be graduates of the school of excellence and no excuses?
Charles… you remind people that these adults deserve their day in court but you reported that there was a video confession already. If people are putting the cart before the horse its because of an article you wrote. Perhaps these are “copycat” criminals and they just happened to get caught their first time ever tossing a rock… not!
This reminds me of a case I worked on in midtown Manhattan. Large windows were being shot with large BB type guns. The person arrested worked for a glass installer. Some of the large windows cost $25,000 to replace. Hope they look into this.
This is more than a whim. Some kind of collective psychologic craziness enveloped this group. Some drugs can cause violence, but those drug-induced acts are more sporadic. These acts were planned and repeated over and over, suggesting a kind of meme.
Seemed like a good idea at the time works for me.
charles
they wont have a day in court…they will not be judged by their peers….they’ll plea bargin…my concern is the message that it will send if they do anything less then make full restitution and at least some jail time
Just a reminder — again — that none of these people have yet been convicted of anything. They deserve their day in court.
“Why? is not an investigative tool.”
Maybe not, but couldn’t it establish motive? (I’m not a lawyer, but I watch one on TV.)
OhGee, their normalcy is what frightens me most. I look at my own 20somethings and wonder if I’m missing something.
I’m with Paul on this. I too am fascinated as to the psychology behind what makes a person conduct criminal acts. (In my younger years, I obtained a Criminal Justice degree from Rutgers.) According to their Facebook website, one of the accused is currently a college student at Georgian Court. Another is a Neptune Fireman whose father is also on the force (and was a former Chief). Photos from their Facebook timelines make them appear like normal twentysomethings.
Why? is not an investigative tool. It cannot be presented to a court or as any type of evidence. It certainly can’t be reported to any press, as each of these vandals may have different reasons. We all want to know why, but I’m sure it’s not something that can be reported to the public. (I would like to know why too.) Some people do things without reasons they can explain.
I think the “why they did it” is fascinating. We don’t know their backgrounds at all, but there is something here that doesn’t seem to make sense. Our society needs to find ways to counter the forces that sometimes overtake young people. It’s called “prevention,” so the community and the police need to pay attention to the “why.”
Who cares why they did it.
3 years in prison will teach them to be more thoughful about their conduct. This kind of protracted, methodical, widespread vandalism deserves a very strong response from the criminal justice system. I am particularly concerned about throwing heavy rocks through house windows. What if a baby was laying on the floor? If that is not reckless endangerment, what is?
“Preston said they gave no reason, and it wouldn’t be a question we would ask them.” What? I can’t imagine not asking the question. I can understand Mr. Williams being quiet as he realizes his dreams within the Unexcelled fire department vanishing but police should have been a bit curious as to why they were creating havoc. The expense and inconvenience placed on random strangers for no reason amazes / disappoints me.