Police: Rookie Hazlet Cop Helps Solve Two Robbery Cases

A rookie Hazlet police officer, who is still in field training, used his computer skills to help police in a neighboring community identify a man who is now charged with two armed robberies, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.

Officer Russ Surdi completed training at the police academy about two months ago, and he is still in field training, Hazlet police said.

But he used his computer skills to determine the license plate numbers on a vehicle depicted on a video, police said. Then Keyport police used that plate number to track down a man who they say is responsible for two Wednesday morning armed robberies in that community, authorities said.

Thomas C. Ingman, 20, of Union Beach was arrested at his home, and charged with charged with two counts each of robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to NJ.com.

Police investigated two gunpoint robberies of taxi drivers at 3:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, and after the second robbery, the suspect - later identified as Ingman -- ran away, heading toward Keyport High School and Central School, the newspaper reported.

Officers from Hazlet, Union Beach and Keyport saturated the area and a Hazlet K-9 unit began a search, but lost the scent of the suspect on Monroe Street, near the high school, according to a press release from the Keyport Police Department, posted on the Atlantic Heights Herald website.

As a safety precaution, police and school officials searched the school, the news release said. Police also viewed a video from the school, which showed Ingman getting into a vehicle parked across the street from the high school, the news release said.

It was Surdi who was also to identify the license plate number from that video, which led police to the defendant, according to authorities.

Ingman was being held at the Monmouth County jail, with bail set at $240,000.