Toms River Woman Charged In Santander Bank Robbery

PINE BEACH, NJ - Authorities have charged a Toms River woman with the robbery of the Santander Bank in Pine Beach last week, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Beth Ellen Brown, 54, was arrested at the Pelican Hotel on Route 37 in Toms River at 9 p.m. on Jan. 8 and charged with first-degree robbery. She is lodged in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River pending a court appearance, spokesman Al Della Fave said.

The arrest stems from the January 5, 2018 robbery, when a woman entered the bank on Route 9 shortly after 3 p.m. She handed the teller a note demanding an undisclosed amount of cash and told the teller she had a gun, he said.

The original report from Pine Beach police described the woman as "an elderly Hispanic woman" and said she demanded $3,000 in cash.

"No weapon was shown during the incident and no one was injured," Della Fave said.

Det. Anthony Pruchnik of the Pine Beach Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, and Toms River Police Department all assisted in a joint investigation, which led to her arrest, he said.

Photo: Courtesy of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office