Police: Beachwood Man Tried To Hide In Crawl Space During Toms River Drug Raid

A Beachwood man tried to hide in a crawl space during a drug raid at a Toms River home Wednesday that turned up 220 doses of heroin, along with crack cocaine, Oxycodone and cash, police said.

Four men -- Albert Palmieri, 29, of Ocean Avenue, Beachwood; John Rizzo, 36, of Marjorie Drive, Toms River; Tyrek Grant, 23, of Jersey City and Robert Dawson, 23, of Hackensack -- were arrested as a result of the raid, said Ralph Stocco, spokesman for the Toms River Police Department.

Members of the Toms River Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team along with the department’s Emergency Service Unit executed a court authorized search warrant at 881 Harrison Road in Toms River. There they found about 220 wax folds of heroin, 25 plastic bags containing crack cocaine, and an unspecified number of Oxycodone pills. About $5,000 was seized from Dawson and Grant, Stocco said.

When police first entered the home, however, Palmieri climbed into the crawl space of the home through an opening in a bedroom closet. He barricaded himself there for a short time before members of the Emergency Services Unit convinced him to come out. He was placed under arrest on more than $100,000 in outstanding warrants, Stocco said.

Palmieri was charged with resisting arrest with risk of substantial injury and possession of heroin. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of $20,000 bail, in addition to his outstanding warrants. Palmieri was previously arrested in November 2014 on charges of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute after he was found in possession of 461 wax folds of heroin, Stocco said.

Rizzo was seen leaving the residence and was arrested on the strength of a no-bail warrant out of Monmouth County. He also was charged with possession of heroin, he said.

Grant was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of Oxycodone and possession of CDS paraphernalia. He is being held in lieu of 50,000 bail at the Ocean County Jail, Stocco said.

Dawson was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of Oxycodone and possession of CDS paraphernalia. He was released on $40,000 bail, he said.