Police Investigating Two Wednesday Armed Robberies

Police are investigating two Wednesday armed robberies, one early in the morning at a Route 70 convenience store and the other at a James Street laundromat during the night. 

No injuries were reported in either incident and police continue to investigate who targeted the businesses, according to Chief of Police Michael Mastronardy. 

Over $500 was taken from the Route 70 Country Farms and two employees at 5:30 a.m. by a man armed with a long barrel revolver, the chief said. 

The suspect is a white male, 5 foot four inches tall, who was wearing a dark hoodie, ski mask, glasses, blue jeans and white gloves, Mastronardy said. 

After the robbery, the man fled on foot across Route 70. The victims, a 42-year-old Toms River man and 76-year-old Brick resident, were not injured

Over half a day later, the Express Laundromat located at 18 James Street was robbed by two black males who demanded money from the owner, the lone worker at the time, just after the business's last customer left at 10:30 p.m., Mastronardy said. 

"The suspects took over $400 in quarters in a brown cloth bag and another $200 in cash before fleeing in a black car, possibly a Saturn, towards Route 9," the chief said. 

One man wore a red bandanna and the other wore a black ski mask, according to the chief. The owner was not injured. 

Officer Michael Cassidy, Sgt. Dan Sysol, Detective Mark Bajada and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the Country Farms robbery. Anyone with information about the Express Laundromat robbery is asked to call Detective Thomas Dimichele at 349-0150, ext. 1333, according to Mastronardy.