Parkway Chase Into Brick Ends With Arrest Of 2 On Heroin Distribution Charges: Prosecutor

BARNEGAT, NJ — An attempted motor vehicle stop that was part of a drug investigation led to a chase on the Garden State Parkway that ended in Brick last Friday night, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

Two people were arrested after the chase, Capt. Jack Sramaty of the prosecutor's office said: Joe F. Starks, 23, with addresses in both Barnegat and Newark, and Justine Garcia, 23, of Barnegat.

The incident began when detectives from the prosecutor's office and Barnegat Township police tried to execute a no-knock search warrant on a Mast Drive home that was the subject of a heroin distribution investigation, Sramaty said.

They tried to pull over the Malibu, but Starks sped onto the Parkway northbound, he said. The New Jersey State Police joined in the chase with marked cars and a State Police helicopter, he said.

Officers followed the Malibu northbound until Starks pulled over near mile marker 94, Sramaty said. Both Starks and Garcia were arrested and taken back to the Barnegat Police Department, he said.

Members of the prosecutor’s Special Operations Group, the Barnegat Police Narcotics Unit, the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit seized 3,500 doses of heroin from the Barnegat home, Sramaty said, and the Malibu was seized pending forfeiture proceedings.,

Starks, who lives both in Newark and at the Mast Drive home, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin to distribute over one-half ounce, distribution of heroin and eluding police, Sramaty said. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of $400,000 cash bail as set by Superior Court Judge James M. Blaney.

Garcia was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute over one-half ounce and distribution of heroin. She is being held in lieu of $20,000 cash bail at the Ocean County Jail.

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