Man Made Multiple Antisemitic Statements In Manchester Arson, Bias Spree: Police

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Manchester Township man said he spray-painted swastikas on more than a dozen homes and set fire to another because he was "saving the neighborhood" and "keep(ing) sneaky penguins out," according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

Ron Carr, 34, was ordered Thursday by Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels to remain in jail until trial in the spree of bias attacks on June 6 and 7 in the Pine Lake Park section, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Carr was arrested June 7 and charged with 36 criminal counts, including charges of bias intimidation (first and third degree), aggravated arson (second degree), arson (third degree), and criminal mischief (fourth degree), Billhimer said, after swastikas and other graffiti were found spray-painted on homes.

According to the affidavit, Carr was arrested as he was found walking near Commonwealth Boulevard less than an hour after the fire was reported, dressed in clothing matching that of a suspect seen on Ring camera at one of the vandalized homes.

Carr had "multiple encounters with the Manchester Police Department," Detective Patrick Cervenak wrote in the affidavit, and at headquarters, police could smell the odor of gasoline on his clothing.

Police received multiple calls between 11:45 p.m. June 6 and 1 a.m. on June 7 about the vandalism," with 14 homes spray-painted with graffiti including hearts, swastikas, names and "other miscellaneous words," in red and silver on "front doors, garage doors, vinyl siding of homes, and on driveways," the affidavit said.

At 3:11 a.m. June 6 police were called to a fire at a home on First Avenue, according to the affidavit, and about half an hour later received a call about a suspicious person walking near Commonwealth Boulevard, the affidavit said.

When police found the suspicious person — identified as Carr — he was wearing the clothing seen on the person in the Ring video at one of the vandalized homes, the affidavit said. Carr was carrying a backpack and initially took out a baseball bat that he used to menace police before he was forcefully arrested, the affidavit said.

Under questioning, Carr told police he spray-painted the homes to "keep sneaky penguins out," and when Cervenak asked for clarification "as to who the 'sneaky penguins,' were, he laughed and stated, 'Jews,' " Cervenak wrote.

Carr said he sprayed red hearts on homes because he "felt bad for the people who were not part of the Jewish community," along with the names of his daughters, and swastikas.

Carr "made multiple anti-Semitic statements, stating that the 'Jews are ruining the world,' that 'they are bad for the environment,' and that 'they should be a dying breed,' " Cervenak wrote.

Carr — whose statement was video and audiotaped — confessed to starting the fire at the First Avenue home, saying he poured gasoline on wood inside the home and lit it with a cigarette lighter, then threw the gasoline can in the basement, the affidavit said. That description matched what arson investigators found, Cervenak said.

Carr told Cervenak and Officer Jordan Weed "he started this fire because he was 'saving the neighborhood' " and said the house would become a school or "prayerland" and "destroy everything," the affidavit said.

Carr also was interviewed by Detective John Doran of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and gave additional details about the fire, the affidavit said.

The house was destroyed in the fire and three additional homes suffered heat damage and flames spread to a wooded area behind the house. No injuries were reported.

A GoFundMe campaign was started to assist the homeowners, who are Hispanic and were having the house built and did not have homeowner's insurance. The family — Angel and Brenda Rivas, and Brenda's parents — have been working for years to afford to build the home, according to the GoFundMe.

In November, Carr was charged with resisting arrest after residents reported a man peeking into their back yards in Pine Lake Park, and a December 2021 report showed he faced drug charges after admitting to using methamphetamine before a crash in Toms River that injured his passenger.