Waretown Man Indicted on Barnegat Burglary Charge

A Waretown man has been indicted on a charge of burglarizing a Barnegat apartment.

An Ocean County grand jury found sufficient evidence Oct. 11 to indict Jeffrey W. Close with third-degree burglary for allegedly entering an apartment on Barnegat Boulevard in August.

Close, 30 at the time of the incident, was arrested Aug. 20 after the police department's K-9 unit caught him burglarizing a unit in the Atlantic Heights complex off Barnegat Boulevard, Lt. Keith Germain of the Barnegat Township Police Department said at the time of the burglary.

Shortly after midnight, a resident called police reporting a suspicious-looking male walking around the outside of one of the housing units in the neighborhood, said Germain.

Two officers and Barnegat's K-9 Bullet responded, and the officers found a window screen pried from the apartment in question, as well as a closed but unsecured front window, Germain said.

When an officer announced that he would be releasing Bullet into the home, Close surrendered and voluntarily walked out the apartment.

Close initially was held at Ocean County Jail but posted $15,000 bail with no 10 percent option on Aug. 27.