617-Acre Blaze Among 28 Fires Manchester Man Admits Setting In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Manchester Township man has pleaded guilty to arson in connection with 28 fires he set in three towns, including ones that led to a 617-acre fire in Little Egg Harbor in 2021, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.

Gregory P. Fullman Jr., 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated arson before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan on Friday, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, and the state is set to recommend a sentence of 12 years in prison, he said.

In addition, Fullman will be required to make restitution for the efforts of firefighters to put out the fires, Billhimer said.

Fullman was arrested Jan. 31, 2022 after an investigation into numerous forest fires intentionally set in Ocean County, he said. The investigation revealed that Fullman was responsible for setting fires and destroying or damaging wooded areas in Little Egg Harbor Township, Manchester Township, and Lakewood Township between the dates of May 2021 and January 2022.

Initially he was charged in 25 fires, and that was expanded to 28 fires when he was indicted in April 2022. The probable cause affidavit said he was connected to many of the fires by cigarette butts left at the scene of some of the fires, along with tire prints, shoe prints and other evidence.

That included the May 16, 2021, fires set off Otis Bog Road in Little Egg Harbor that consumed more than 600 acres of forest. Read more: Manchester Man Indicted In 28 Fires, Including 617-Acre Forest Blaze

Senior Assistant Prosecutor Meghan O’Neill handled the case. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Narcotics Strike Force, High Tech Crime Unit, and Economic Crime Unit; Little Egg Harbor, Manchester Township, and Lakewood Township Police Departments; the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Unit, Field Services Unit, Administrative Unit and K-9 Unit; the Fire Marshal’s Office, Vehicle Services Department, the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service, New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences, New Jersey State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office, Wall Township Police Department, and City of Bridgeton Fire Department Bureau of Fire Prevention K-9 Unit collaborated on the investigation.