By Charles Layton
The four adult defendants accused of rock-throwing vandalism in Ocean Grove and elsewhere are scheduled to appear in court next week for a pre-indictment conference.
They and a fifth person, a juvenile, are accused of cruising around numerous towns late at night, smashing the windows of parked cars and committing other acts of vandalism. Police have said more than 150 separate incidents were reported from January through April of this year, spanning more than 20 different towns, all of them, except for Brick, in Monmouth County.
Neptune police have cited 33 acts of window smashing in Ocean Grove alone from January through March.
The defendants were arrested on April 12 in Spring Lake. Police stopped their car after they had allegedly broken a car window and a house window. A backpack full of softball-size paving stones was discovered in the car. All the defendants made confessions during video interviews on the night of their arrest, police said.
Two of the defendants are Lauren Magaw and Philip Williams. Photo from Facebook
The adult defendants are Philip David Williams, 24; James Joseph Turetzkin, 19; Lauren Ashley Magaw, 21, and Tyler Emmons, 18. All are from Neptune Township except for Turetzkin, who is from Neptune City.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Anita White-Gillyard said Thursday that the pre-indictment court date is tentatively set for June 14 before Judge Thomas F. Scully.
She said the investigation is not yet completed, but that so far investigators have accumulated evidence from Atlantic Highlands, Avon, Brielle, Deal, Howell, Manasquan, Neptune, Rumson, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Loch Arbour Village, West Long Branch, Tinton Falls and Wall.
Unless the defendants plead guilty, their case will likely go before a grand jury. If the case goes to trial, it would be before a jury.
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Bullets: Really per offense – how do you know that?
I never had a “no radio” sticker. But a friend of mine, after having her car broken into several times, put a big sign in the car window that said: “This car has been broken into numerous times. Believe me, there is no longer anything in here that you could possibly want.”
Life in the city.
Charles, did you have one of those “NO RADIO” stickers on your car?
As it stands, based on value of the things broken they are looking at 6-18mo in jail PER OFFENSE
I’m not at all condoning (*Not.At.All*) the stolen radios, but it would seem money was the motivation. This one just has me shaking my head. If I recall correctly, one of the suspects is (was?) a fireman. How do you go from aspirations to save to aspirations to destroy. Sad.
Cat — about that rock that you saved — the one that was thrown at your front door. You’ll recall that a sack full of paving stones was found in the car these people were riding in on the night they were arrested. You might want to call the assistant prosecutor and see if your stone constitutes evidence and if it matches the stones found in the car.
Not even speculating on the motives for these crimes, but when I lived in Philadelphia a great many radios and CD players were being stolen from parked cars. There were also, in the same neighborhoods, small local businesses that sold “used” car radios and car CD players to the very people who had had theirs stolen. It was pretty obvious where all these “used” items came from.
Considering the number of communities affected by the rock throwing and the four-month time span in which the incidents occurred, I’m not buying that they were acts of vandalism for the thrill of it. It’s hard to believe that these young adults would engage in the same behavior for so long without getting bored and moving on to something else. So this raises the question: Did they have a motivation beyond thrills?
On a hunch and from past experience living in Hudson County, where rocks thrown through car windows became the norm, I looked up “glass” in the new Yellowbook for Monmouth County. The first BIG advertisement under “glass” lists “Breakage Repair Specialist” as its first benefit. Wish I had the 2011 Yellowbook, which covers the rock-throwing time period, to compare advertisements.
Hope the police/prosecutor investigates the motivation and gets answers.
wow…$75,000 spread out among 5 defendants ..lets see, $15,000 each…what a great life lesson that would be…sounds good to me
What in heaven’s name were these *men* thinking? At what point does a bad, single decision cross the line from just plain stupid into purposeful, premeditated violent behavior?
Just thinking about the idea of financial restitution. If there were 150 cases of vandalism and the average damage per case was $500, that’s total damages of $75,000.
What we need here is for these folks to get 6 months in jail and a big fine. Civilized society cannot tolerate antisocial adults who act with such sustained malice. I sure hope this case is not being heard by a light-weight judge who makes excuses for criminals.
@Bullets
I beg to differ. A judge can order restitution. It’s done in criminal cases, especially when an employee steals from their employers. It’s ordered in bad check cases.
two different processes technically…but as a practical matter “voluntarily offering to make restitution,” i.e. taking responsibility, can be taken into account at sentencing.
@Full restitution: the judge that presides over the criminal case cannot make that decision. Those who have been wronged (or their insurance company) would have to bring a civil case against the defendants to gain payment for damages, its two different processes.
I’m wondering if the judge will let me throw the rock that they threw at my front door at them. I saved it just in case the jury is particularly Old Testamenty.
nothing less than full restitution for all the damage to property should be made before these people are sentenced…assuming of course that they are guilty.