On July 28th a robbery investigation conducted by the Barnegat Police Department resulted in the arrests of four subjects and the recovery of a handgun.
At 3:00am, Barnegat Police received a report of a robbery that had occurred on Bowline Street. The 30 year-old male victim had gone to Bowline Street intending to meet up with Melissa King, 32, of Long Branch when he was approached by another subject who pointed a handgun at him. The armed subject then repeatedly struck the victim in the head with the handgun before taking the victim’s two cell phones and fleeing the area with King in a white BMW.
The victim entered his vehicle and followed the suspect vehicle to Berkeley Township where he stopped to report the robbery and assault to the Berkeley Police Department. A short time later, a South Toms River police officer located and stopped the white BMW. Barnegat officers responded to the location in South Toms River and took Angelo Grenci, 38, of Toms River, Edwin Nieves, 39, of Seaside Heights, and Anastasio Skentzos, 35, of Toms River into custody. The BMW was impounded while officers applied for a search warrant for the vehicle.
Further investigation revealed that King was staying at the Clarion hotel in Toms River. Officers from the Toms River Police Department responded to the hotel and located King. Barnegat officers responded to the hotel and conducted a consent search of King’s hotel room which resulted in the recovery of a backpack believed to be connected to the robbery. The backpack was secured and transported to the Barnegat Police Department where it was held pending an application for a search warrant to search the bag. King was also placed under arrest in connection with the robbery.
As a result of the authorization and issuance of search warrants and the subsequent searches of the BMW and backpack, officers recovered a Desert Eagle semi-automatic .50 caliber handgun.
Sketnzos was charged with 1st degree robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon and was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in default of $500,000 bail (no 10% option).
Grenci was charged with 1st degree robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon. He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in default of $500,000 bail (no 10% option).
King was charged with 1st degree robbery. She was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in default of $300,000 bail (no 10% option).
Nieves was lodged in the Ocean County Jail on a no-bail warrant for violation of probation.
The Barnegat Police Department received assistance from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI Unit, the Toms River Police Department, the South Toms River Police Department, and the Berkeley Township Police Department.