Machete-Wielding Man Arrested After Toms River Road Rage: Police

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Beachwood man has been arrested after he threatened a person with a machete as part of a road rage incident that included a chase through the Ocean County Mall parking lot, Toms River police said Friday.

Austin C. Martinez, 29 from Beachwood, was arrested Wednesday after crashing his Jeep Liberty in Brick, Toms River police said.

Police were called at 6:04 p.m. to the Ocean County Mall in Toms River where a victim reported a man driving a blue Jeep Liberty had tapped on his window with a machete while they were stopped at a red light on Water Street, police said.

When the victim tried to flee, the Jeep Liberty followed him into the Ocean County Mall parking lot and chased him through the lot, police said. He then called 911 and drove to the Toms River police headquarters.

Martinez kept going north in the Jeep Liberty after the victim went to police headquarters, and Toms River police were not able to catch up to it, so they alerted Brick Township police.

The victim called 911 and drove to the Toms River Police Department headquarters on Oak Avenue.

The Jeep Liberty, meanwhile, kept going north on Hooper Avenue and while it was seen by Toms River officers, they were unable to catch up to it so they notified the Brick Police Department.

Brick police found the Jeep Liberty had crashed and they had Martinez, the driver, in custody, police said.

Toms River police went to the crash site and found the machete in plain view in the Jeep, they said.

Martinez was charged with terroristic threats, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon, police said.

He was being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.