Ocean Gate, Toms River Men Charged With Holiday City Burglary

An Ocean Gate man and a Toms River man have been charged with burglary and theft in connection with the ransacking and burglary of a Holiday City home, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele said.

And more arrests may be on the way, she said.

Berkeley police responded to a Pulaski Drive home on Feb. 25 on a report of a residential burglary. The victim's home was ransacked and a large amount of valuables were missing, including unique jewelry with certain identifiers. the chief said.

Berkeley detectives developed leads that John Mullen, 60, Toms River, may have sold the stolen jewelry from the Pulaski Drive burglary. Police found several of the unique jewelry pieces from a local buy-gold store, with the cooperation of store owners, DiMichele said.

The victim positively identified the items as stolen, the chief said.

Berkeley detectives and Toms River detectives collaborated to locate Mullen. Berkeley detectives obtained a search warrant for Mullen's Toms River home and executed the warrant at 10 p.m. on Feb. 25, DiMichele said.

Mullen, who was next door at a relative’s house, turned himself in to police without incident. Mullen was charged with burglary and theft. His bail was set at $50,000. Mullen taken to the Ocean County Jail in default, the chief said.

Mullen's arrest provided information about other suspects, she said.

"This new information pointed to Ocean Gate, where more proceeds existed and more suspects resided," DiMichele said.

Ocean Gate detectives noticed similarities to some of their own burglaries, and conducted an intensive follow-up. Berkeley detectives obtained an additional search warrant for an apartment on West Chelsea Avenue in Ocean Gate.

Detectives from all agencies were aware of the suspect, Frederick Monahan, 35, Ocean Gate, since he had previously been arrested by Berkeley Township, Pine Beach and Manchester Township in 2015 for residential burglaries.

Authorities and the Ocean County Regional SWAT team entered Monahan's home and arrested him at the scene. They found burglary proceeds, including jewelry, and an imitation firearm and coin containers linked to the Pulaski Boulevard burglary, DiMichele said.

More valuables were found and could be proceeds from other burglaries. Police also found a quantity of heroin, the chief said.

Monahan was charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, possession of an imitation firearm and possession of heroin. He was taken to the Ocean County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. More charges are pending as valuables are identifed and suspects located, DiMichele said.

"This successful investigation was again the result of a collaborative work effort between detectives from Toms River and Ocean Gate who aggressively follow all available leads," she said. "This collaboration assisted with solving these crimes, as they often flow into other jurisdictions."