Howell Man Charged In Threats Over Lakewood Weddings: Authorities

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A Howell Township man sent messages threatening to beat members of the Lakewood Jewish community with a baseball bat through Facebook to multiple people on Thursday, including one to the account of Gov. Phil Murphy, authorities said Friday.

Anthony Lodespoto, 43, was arrested Friday afternoon at his Dutch Valley Road home, Lakewood police and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He has been charged with making terroristic threats during a state of emergency, Billhimer said.

Lodespoto is accused of making the threats over incidents where some members of the town have not complied with Murphy's orders banning gatherings of more than 10 people and to stay at home as part of statewide efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said.

The threats, made in direct messages through Facebook Messenger, were first reported to Lakewood police about 9 p.m. Thursday, Staffordsmith said.

Billhimer said that as Lakewood detectives in investigated, New Jersey State Police told them Lodespoto had made a similar threat in a message sent to Murphy's account. The threats consisted of saying he would drive to Lakewood to beat members of the Jewish community with a baseball bat, the prosecutor said.

"I am keenly aware these are extraordinarily stressful times," Billhimer said, "but that does not give anyone license to engage in violent behavior or threaten to commit violent acts. The statements made by this individual were not an exercise in free speech; rather, they exhibited an abhorrence to the values of a free and civilized society."

There have been five Lakewood residents who have been charged with violations of Murphy's orders since March 18, and the repeated incidents have incensed residents of surrounding communities. Lodespoto's messages followed reports Thursday evening that Lakewood police had broken up a wedding after finding a tent while responding to a motor vehicle crash.

He was arrested without incident about 3:45 p.m. by Detectives Patrick Kearns, Tyler Distefano and Detective Sgt. Nate Reyes after they confirmed Lodespoto was the author of the posts. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail.

Murphy, during his daily news updates on the coronavirus outbreak in the state, has addressed the growing anger each of the last three days. On Friday he said state and local authorities have been working together and that the issues are a handful of people.

Col. Patrick Callahan, the head of the New Jersey State Police, said he and other state leaders had a conference call on Friday with Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, Mayor Raymond Coles and other community leaders in Lakewood to address the issues.

Callahan said the weddings are not representative of the entire community, and that "99.9 percent of the residents of Lakewood are complying with the order." Thursday's incident, he said, resulted because the host believed they could spread the wedding reception across three backyards to limit each group to 10 people.

"There is some amount of education we have to do," Murphy said. "There are some willfully flaunting the orders," and both types of orders must be reduced to zero.

"While there have been a few instances of group gatherings that were addressed by law enforcement, the vast majority of the community understands the importance of social distancing," Callahan said. "Law enforcement in our state have worked tirelessly to build relationships with our communities, and we will not let the actions of a few determine how a city is viewed."

Murphy said anti-Semitic attacks will not be tolerated, in person or online, "not one iota, not one speck."

There have been other gatherings across the state that have led to disorderly conduct charges for their organizers, and on Friday Attorney General Gurbir Grewal released a list of incidents where people were charged:

• On March 21, Jacquon Jones, 37, was charged with disorderly conduct for holding a large party in Penns Grove in violation of the emergency order;
• On March 24, the Jersey City Police Department charged multiple individuals who were loitering as a group outside an apartment building. Three juveniles were charged with defiant trespass, failure to disperse, and disorderly persons offenses;
• On March 26, police in Washington Township, Warren County, charged David Merring, 62, owner of Rack and Roll Billiards Hall, with obstruction of the administration of law for keeping his business open in violation of the emergency order. He was previously warned about opening during the emergency and closed down. He re-opened and had customers inside when police arrived.
• On March 27, police charged Pria Milledge, 37, with a disorderly persons offense for holding a party in Bridgeton.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 8,825 positive tests for COVID-19 in New Jersey, and 108 people have died from it, according to the state health department. There have been 557 positive tests in Ocean County, according to the Ocean County Health Department, and nine deaths from the virus in the county. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Callahan said: "Acts of Anti-Semitism will not be tolerated, and any reports will be thoroughly investigated."

"The COVID-19 virus affects all residents of New Jersey, and it will take a cooperative, whole-community effort to flatten the curve," he said.

Note: This report has been updated with additional details from the Ocean County prosecutor's office.

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