Crime & Safety

Barnegat Police Charge Three In Connection With String Of Burglaries


Barnegat police have arrested three men and charged them with five burglaries between Feb. 12 and March 24, Lt. Keith Germain said.

Detective William Hetrick made the arrests over the past six days. The burglaries were committed at homes on Bilge Avenue, Ida Court, Starboard Avenue and Gunning River Road.
 
Arrested were Jason Cranmer, 30, of Manahawkin, James Episale, 71, of Manahawkin, and Charles Eble 3rd, 39, of Barnegat.

Cranmer was arrested on March 26 and was charged with burglary and theft. He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in default of $15,000 bail.
 
Episale was arrested on March 27and was charged with fencing (3rd degree). He was processed and released pending a court date.
 
Eble, who was already incarcerated in the Ocean County Jail on drug charges stemming from his arrest by the Barnegat Police Narcotics Unit, was charged on April 1 with four counts of burglary, two counts of third degree theft, one count of fourth degree theft, two counts of criminal mischief, and receiving stolen property. An additional $42,500 bail was placed on Eble for the listed charges, Germain said.
 
The first lead in the case came when Hetrick determined that a Tag Heuer watch sold at an area business had been stolen in one of the burglaries.

As the investigation continued, members of the Barnegat Police Narcotics Unit arrested Eble during an unrelated drug investigation and found him to be in possession of a diamond tennis bracelet which had been stolen from one of the burglarized homes. Episale was then developed as a fencing suspect as the investigation continued, Germain said. 

No additional stolen property was recovered. 


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