Crime & Safety

Barnegat Man Dubbed 'Tri-County Robber' Arrested Wednesday

Last robbery attempt was on Wednesday


by Patricia A. Miller

Law enforcement authorities arrested a Barnegat man today and charged him with a string of seven bank robberies in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex counties, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said.

Steven M. Wisnowski, 30, Barnegat, was charged with two counts of second degree robbery and one count of third degree terroristic threats by the Brick Township police department.

Wisnowski was also charged with three bank robberies in Edison and one in Aberdeen. He is lodged in the Middlesex County Jail on the following bails; Brick Township - $250,000 with no ten percent option; Edison Township - $750,000 cash bail; and $250,000 no 10% from Aberdeen.  Toms River Police Department charges are pending.

“In a tremendous cooperative effort, police departments from Ocean, Monmouth, and Middlesex Counties joined forces to stop a brazen serial bank robber," Coronato said. "The Ocean County police departments of Brick and Toms River are to be especially commended for their outstanding investigative efforts in identifying the alleged suspect before his desperate acts could lead to a possible tragedy.”  

"Police Departments of Brick and Toms River are to be especially commended for their outstanding investigative efforts in identifying the alleged suspect before his desperate acts could lead to a possible tragedy,” Coronato said..   

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The robberies in chronological order are as follows:

• Edison -  Oct. 30, 2013, PNC Bank at 505 Thornhall St.

Find out what's happening in Barnegat-Manahawkinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

• Brick - Nov. 7, 6:59 p.m., TD Bank, 989 Burnt Tavern Road..

• Brick  - Nov. 15, 5:40 p.m., Santander Bank, 17 Beaverson Boulevard.

• Edison - Nov. 27, 9:04 a.m., Columbia Bank, Talmadge Road, Edison.

• Toms River - Dec. 2, 11:55 p.m., TD Bank, Route 9.

• North Aberdeen - Dec. 9, 3:28 p.m., PNC Bank, Route 34.

• Edison - Jan. 7, 2014, 2:40 p.m.. Wisnowski is taken into custody by Edison police during his final robbery at the Fulton Bank on Oak Tree Road. 

Detectives James Burgess and Thomas Cooney of the Brick Police Department, Det. Randy Petrick of the Toms River Township Police Department, Det. Ray Powers of the Edison Police Department, the Aberdeen Police Department, the Franklin and Redbank Regional Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, all contributed to the investigation.




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