Community Corner

Toms River Police Arrest Man in Burglary of Fire-Damaged Home

Police say 24-year-old burglarized 90-year-old's home hours after it was severely damaged in a fire

Toms River police have arrested a man who they say burglarized a Caribbean Court home just hours after it was left uninhabitable by a fire that injured the 90-year-old woman who lived there.

Wilfredo A. Antuna, 24, of Acapulco Drive, was arrested Tuesday on burglary and theft charges.

The fire at the house – said to be caused by a burning candle that may have been left unattended – occurred about 10 p.m. Sunday night, sending the woman to the hospital for smoke inhalation. By 8 a.m. the next morning, a representative of the woman's family contacted police, saying the home had been broken into and someone had removed jewelry and a flat screen television.

According to police spokesman Ralph Stocco, Sgt. Bob Rankin along with patrol officers Mike Browne and Michael Cassady conducted a canvass of the surrounding neighborhood and developed a lead from a concerned resident. That lead led them to a residence on Acapulco Drive where it was reported that a young man had just moved in with his grandmother.

Police located Antuna, who already had an outstanding warrant from Kearny, at the home, according to Stocco.

Antuna was also reported to be at the scene of the fire as emergency crews were there extinguishing the blaze two nights earlier, Stocco said. He was arrested on the warrant and further investigation, according to police, led to the recovery of the stolen television which was located in a vehicle parked in front of the residence. 

"The television was still covered in black soot from the home fire," said Stocco. 

Police are continuing their investigation in an attempt to locate the stolen jewelry.

Antuna was being lodged in the Ocean County Jail on $50,000 bail, according to jail records.


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