Barnegat Police Arrest Woman In Purse-Snatching

A 48-year-old Manahawkin woman has been charged with fourth-degree theft after she admitted to stealing a purse from a Heritage Bay home on Aug. 29, police said.

Mary Romano, 48, of Manahawkin, was arrested on Sept. 14 by Detective Maryann Cirulli after Romano confessed to the theft, Lt. Keith Germain said.

Romano became a suspect after a Manahawkin resident called police to say Romano might be the woman in the police sketch of the suspect in the incident, he said.

In the incident, a white woman in her 40s knocked on the door of 66 Sandpiper Road and told the resident, an elderly woman, that she'd noticed the real estate sign in the window and was interested in looking around as part of a search for a new home for her mother.

The resident invited the woman in and showed her around the house, said police. The woman then asked for a glass of water, but when the resident returned with it, the woman was walking out the front door.

A few minutes later, police said, the resident went to get her purse from her laundry room and realized it was missing.

The purse contained about $200, Germain said. Romano was released pending a court date, he said.