Brick Woman Threatened Store Clerk, Stole Cash, Cigarettes: Prosecutor

BERKELEY, NJ — A Brick Township woman is accused of robbing a store clerk at knifepoint after she smashed the window of another store trying to steal cigarettes, authorities said Wednesday.

Jessica A. Napolitano, 37, was arrested early Tuesday in connection with the incidents in Berkeley Township, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Napolitano is accused of robbing The Corner Store on Ocean Gate Drive sometime before 4:20 a.m., threatening the cashier with a knife and demanding money and cigarettes, then leaving after the store staff turned over both, authorities said.

Berkeley Township police learned that just before the burglary at The Corner Store, a woman threw a rock through the front window of the Dollar General Store on Atlantic City Boulevard and went in, trying to get cigarettes, authorities said. She left the store after she couldn't get to the cigarettes and headed to The Corner Store, authorities said.

Officers were able to identify Napolitano as the woman responsible for both incidents and she was found in Lakewood and arrested her, authorities said.

She has been charged with robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, burglary, and criminal mischief. She is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Lakewood police assisted in the investigation.