Man Threw Molotov Cocktails At Home, Vehicle In South Toms River, Prosecutor Says

SOUTH TOMS RIVER, NJ — A man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a home in South Toms River is under arrest in Tennessee, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

Tashaun B. Normand, 42, of the Bronx, has been charged with two counts of aggravated arson and two counts of possession of destructive devices, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

The incident happened March 23, the prosecutor's office said. Police and firefighters from the Manitou Park Fire Company were called to a home on Belmont Drive about 3:15 p.m. that day for a report of a vehicle fire, authorities said.

They arrived to find a 2010 GMC Terrain on fire, and a separate fire on a grassy area next to the home, the prosecutor's office said. They also found a broken glass bottle and a second glass bottle with a liquid and a torn rag stuffed into it "consistent with a Molotov cocktail," the prosecutor's office said.

The fires were extinguished. Authorities did not report any injuries.

Investigators determined one of the Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the front windshield of the Terrain, and the other was thrown toward the house, the prosecutor's office said.

Detectives were able to determine that Normand had been the person who made them and thrown them, the prosecutor's office said, and was charged on Friday.

He was arrested Sunday by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on the warrant issued by Ocean County authorities and is being held in the Monroe County Jail awaiting extradition, according to the prosecutor's office and Monroe County Jail records.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, South Toms River Police Department Detective Bureau, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene investigation Unit, and Tennessee Highway Patrol combined on the investigation.