Crime & Safety

Toms River Man Charged in Car Chase, Threats Against Woman

Police: witnesses said township man was kicking door, threatening to shoot woman with shotgun

A Toms River man is being lodged in the Ocean County Jail after leading township police on a car chase through local streets after allegedly making threats to a woman who told police he was stalking her.

The incident occurred June 13 at about 11:30 p.m., when officers were called to the Parkridge Apartment Complex on Walnut Street on a report of a disturbance, said police spokesman Ralph Stocco.

When officers arrived, they found a 42-year-old township woman who said a man she knew was outside of her residence making threats and attempting to break in the door.

The suspect, David Agatielli, 37, from the 2100 block of Mount Hood Lane in Toms River, fled the scene in a brown Buick Lucerne just as the officers arrived, Stocco said.

"Noticeably speeding and eluding marked vehicles," said Stocco, Agatielli proceeded to drive over parking lot medians and a curb, exiting from the grass lawn onto Park Crest Drive with units following behind him. Agatielli, police said, then continued to run a stop sign before taking James St. to Rt. 166 Northbound, driving so recklessly that Officer Sean Smith was "forced to pull off of the roadway to the right as he passed to avoid being struck." 

Due to the risk Agatielli was posing to the community, the attempts to stop him were terminated and a warrant was issued for his arrest, said Stocco.

Smith later returned to the scene of the incident, where the victim stated that she knew Agatielli and had been his friend for years before he recently became infatuated with her to the point of stalking, according to Stocco.

Previously, the woman told officers, he had been spotted outside her residence uninvited and loitering in the Park Ridge parking lot area on several occasions. 

On the day of the eluding incident, Agatielli was seen by an eyewitness kicking on the door and screaming that he was going to have someone come in and shoot her with a shotgun, said Stocco.

Police caught up with Agatielli on June 15 in the early afternoon, when he was observed by a concerned citizen acting suspiciously on Mount Hood Lane in Holiday City, said Stocco. 

Officer Daniel Herr responded and arrested Agatielli on charges of making terroristic threats, eluding police, driving with a suspended license, and numerous other motor vehicle offenses as a result of the original incident. He is currently lodged at the Ocean County Jail with bail set at $30,000.


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