Man Charged In 3 Toms River Robberies, Including 2 In One Night

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A fingerprint on a note helped lead authorities to a man they allege committed five robberies in three towns, three of them in Toms River.

Luis Claudio, 35, of Howell, was arrested April 5 and has been charged in a pair of March 28 robberies and one committed March 31, along with a January robbery in Brick and a robbery that happened in Lakewood, Brick Township Police Sgt. James Kelly and Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department, said Thursday.

Claudio is accused of committing a pair of robberies on March 28, one at the 7-Eleven at 260 Route 37 west in Toms River, and the second four hours later at the Rite Aid at 220 Route 70. In both, the suspect — now alleged to be Claudio — brandished a knife and demanded cash.

The suspect in those incidents was described as being either a light-skinned Hispanic or black male who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, with a thin build and some facial hair, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Messina said Claudio also has been charged in a March 31 robbery at Anthony's Liquors on Route 166. In that incident, two men walked into the liquor store about 4 p.m. One appeared to be acting as a lookout, she said, but the other approached the checkout counter and passed a note to the clerk demanding cash. The man then implied that he had a weapon in his waistband, though no weapon was shown, Messina said. The suspect who passed the note was described as a black male, 20 to 30 years old with facial tattoos, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes, Messina said. The scene was processed for forensic evidence and the note used was recovered and processed for latent fingerprints. The lookout was described as a white male, 20 to 30 years old, wearing dark-colored cargo pants, a windbreaker, and dark sunglasses with white frames.

Messina said Toms River detectives spoke with detectives from Brick and Lakewood, believing the robberies in their respective towns were related to the three that had occurred in Toms River. In Brick, the 7-Eleven at 856 Route 70 was robbed in the early hours of Jan. 5, with a similar suspect description. In that incident, the suspect — alleged to be Claudio — told the clerk he had a gun and kept his right arm concealed in his coat, Kelly said.

On April 4, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department was able to positively identify a fingerprint obtained from the note at the March 31 liquor store robbery as matching one belonging to Claudio, Messina said.

Lakewood police have not responded to an email requesting information on the Lakewood incident.

Claudio arrested April 5 in Lakewood on an unrelated warrant out of Brick and was taken to the Brick Township Police Department where he was interviewed jointly by detectives from all of the towns, Messina said. Kelly said Berkeley Township police assisted as well.

"Having a strong working relationship with other agencies made this investigation seamless and move swiftly," Messina said. "We would like to thank the Brick Township Police Department, Lakewood Township Police Department, as well as the Ocean County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigations Unit and K-9 Unit for working together to apprehend the suspect."

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