Area Man Charged In Red Bank Arsons, Little Silver Robbery: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ – A Red Bank man has been arrested and charged by authorities in connection with three fires set in Red Bank and the robbery of a pharmacy in Little Silver, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Thursday. The crimes took place within about 12 hours of each other earlier this week, the prosecutor's office said.

Anthony Sambogna, 24, of Red Bank is charged with second-degree robbery and three counts of second-degree aggravated arson.

The first of the three arson incidents took place at approximately 12:25 p.m. on Monday, July 25, when an accelerant was used to start a small fire in the parking lot of Red Bank Catholic High School on the 100 block of Broad Street. The fire went out on its own prior to the arrival of police officers just minutes later.

Later that same day, at approximately 11:20 p.m., an accelerant was used to start a second fire along exterior natural gas meter lines leading into the back of a bagel shop on the 300 block of Broad Street. That fire also went out on its own after initially going unreported, but a second fire ignited on shrubbery at the same location a little more than an hour later. It was put out by a responding police officer using a fire extinguisher.

An investigation involving members of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Red Bank Police Department led to Sambogna's being identified as a suspect in the incidents, the prosecutor said, and he was arrested without incident on the 600 block of Branch Avenue in Little Silver early on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 26.

The prosecutor said the investigation also showed that Sambogna is a suspect in connection with the robbery of a pharmacy on Prospect Avenue in Little Silver at approximately 5:25 p.m. on July 25, in which a clerk was threatened while demanding that he empty the contents of a cash register.

Sambogna was in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold, pending a detention hearing to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.

Anyone with information about these or similar incidents is asked to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office Det. Aaron Shaw at 800-533-7443 or Red Bank Police Department Sgt. James Deponte at 732-530-2700.

“Many thanks to all of the various personnel involved in this collaborative investigation. . . . The speed and diligence demonstrated by all involved in this investigation is appreciated,” Acting Prosecutor Linskey said.

The case has been assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner, director of the office’s Major Crimes Bureau. Information about Sambogna’s legal representation was not immediately available.