Realty Firm Owner Admits To $1M Truck Arson In Wall: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ – A Point Pleasant businessman has admitted to setting fire in 2022 to a group of six commercial vehicles belonging to a local business in Wall, authorities said on Friday.

Harcourt “Paul” S. Ward, 70, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to third-degree arson before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago and Wall Township Police Chief Sean O’Halloran announced.

The estimated cost of the damage caused by the fire was over $1 million, authorities have said.

As a result of the plea, the prosecution is recommending that Ward, of Ward Realty and Insurance in Point Pleasant, face three years in New Jersey state prison when he is sentenced. Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, March 22.

The guilty plea stems from an investigation that began on Sept. 26, 2022. The Wall Township Police Department, at approximately 10:11 p.m. that day, responded to a fire at the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue, the prosecutor's office said.

Upon arrival, Wall police and the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office found six vehicles on fire.

Authorities have not identified the business whose trucks were set on fire.

An investigation revealed that Ward was the person responsible for purposely setting the vehicles ablaze, the prosecutor's office said. Ward Realty and Insurance has been in business over 90 years through four generations, its website says.

The case is being handled by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Trial Division. Ward is represented by William E. Wackowski of Point Pleasant.