Lacey Police Charge Seaside Heights Man With Multiple Burglaries

LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Police have charged a Seaside Heights man with burglary and theft after he stole a garage door opener from a car parked at a Lakeside Drive South home and entered the house while the family slept, Detective Lt. Christopher Cornelius said.

Frank Marin, 20, Kearney Avenue, then stole a number of items from the home, including a cell phone and electronics. The owners reported the burglary at 5 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9.

A neighbor later found a cell phone believed to have been dropped by Marin, Cornelius said.

A Llewellyn Parkway resident told police he saw a white male in his early 20s trying to enter his neighbor's vehicle near the same time. The suspect drove away in a gray, four-door vehicle.

Later that same day, a Toms River T-Mobile store contacted Lacey Detective Keith Pearce to report that an unknown man had tried to trade the cell phone stolen from the Lakeside Drive South for an upgrade.

Toms River Police responded to the store and identified the man as Marin, a person that they had dealt with earlier in the day. Toms River officers told Pearce that they responded to a 6:30 a.m. accident near the Seaside Height bridge for an overturned, gray four-door vehicle in which Marin was a passenger, Cornelius said.

The car was towed to an impound yard and Marin was allowed to take his belongings , including an X-Box and a bike. His car was impounded. More stolen items were discovered in both the car and Marin's home, he said.

Marin was arrested and charged with burglary, theft and possession of stolen property. He was taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River and held without bail. The thefts were valued at $1,300, Cornelius said.

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