NJ Firebomber Had Threatened Family Before Incendiary Attack, Affidavit Says

SOUTH TOMS RIVER, NJ — A man who authorities say threw Molotov cocktails at a home and vehicle in South Toms River had threatened to harm a family member of the victim, saying "watch when you go to sleep tonight," according to court documents.

The probable cause affidavit filed on the charges against Tashaun B. Normand, 42, of the Bronx, also says he had previously dated the sister of the son of the owner of the GMC Terrain that was set on fire, and that there had been an argument and an incident involving her, Normand and the son 10 days earlier in Brick and Point Pleasant.

Normand remains in the Monroe County Jail in Tennessee, where he has been awaiting extradition since his arrest on March 29 by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to jail records and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

He has been charged with two counts of aggravated arson and two counts of possession of destructive devices, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said, in the incident that happened on March 23 at a home on Belmont Street.

Police and Manitou Park Fire Company firefighters were called to a vehicle fire at the home about 3:15 a.m. on March 23 and found a 2010 GMC Terrain on fire, and a separate fire on a grassy area next to the home, the prosecutor's office said.

Authorities found a broken glass bottle with a torn piece of white tank top, along with an intact Yoohoo bottle stuffed with another piece of tank top soaked with a liquid "consistent with a Molotov cocktail," the prosecutor's office said.

The fires were extinguished. Authorities did not report any injuries.

Video surveillance turned up a red minivan that pulled up near the house and a person got out, walked up to the home and threw the first ignited bottle at the GMC, according to the affidavit.

“Subsequently a large flash is observed,” authorities wrote. The person threw the second ignited bottle then ran back toward where the red minivan was parked, got in and left, the affidavit said.

Detectives learned there had been an incident on March 12 in Brick Township involving the son of the owner of the GMC Terrain, and his girlfriend. In that incident, Brick Township police called South Toms River looking for a red Chrysler Pacifica that was registered to a rental company, according to the affidavit.

In the March 12 incident, the son and his sister went to River Rock Restaurant and Marina Bar in Brick where they met up with Normand and Normand’s brother. Normand and the sister had dated previously, according to the affidavit.

The four decided to go to Shore House Tavern in Point Pleasant and left the son’s vehicle, a gray 2013 Dodge Durango, at River Rock, with Normand driving them in a red Chrysler Pacifica.

On the way to Shore House, the woman and Normand got into an argument that continued in the parking lot and turned into pushing and shoving between two of the men before Shore House security came over to break it up and called police, according to affidavit.

Video at Shore House showed the fight, and showed Normand and his brother get back in the minivan and leave before Point Pleasant police arrived, the affidavit said.

Point Pleasant police drove the woman and her brother back to River Rock, where they discovered the driver’s side door open, the front and rear license plates removed and the front bumper ripped off, according to the affidavit.

Video surveillance showed a red Chrysler Pacifica pulling up beside the Durango and the driver getting out and grabbing the license plates, damaging the bumper and grabbing items from inside, the affidavit said.

Detectives learned the Pacifica had been rented from a Freehold location of the rental company by another man on March 10. The three were seen on video surveillance at the location, Normand, his brother, and the third man then were identified using facial recognition software. After the third man rented the Pacifica, the three left the building and Normand got in the minivan and drove off, the affidavit said.

Normand's brother and the man who rented the minivan have not been charged in either incident.

The son of the GMC owner told authorities that on March 21 — the night before the Molotov cocktails were thrown at the GMC and the house — his sister and another sister had stayed overnight with one sister’s boyfriend at the boyfriend’s house, the affidavit said.

The sister dating the boyfriend told detectives the following morning, March 22, the second sister had come into the room where the first sister and her boyfriend were and started yelling at them, according to the affidavit. The yelling sister then called Normand and told Normand he needed to come over and beat up someone.

Because the names of both sisters and the boyfriend are redacted in the affidavit, it's unclear if the sister who called Normand is the one who had dated him previously, and it's not clear who the called wanted beaten up.

One of the people then took the phone from that sister, according to the affidavit:

“(Name redacted) then got on the phone and had a verbal argument with Tashaun,” the affidavit said.

That person then told the detectives "that Tashaun said something to the effect of, '(name redacted), you better watch your back, watch when you go to sleep tonight, and if he doesn’t do it one of his homies will,' " the affidavit said.

Authorities said the Pacifica was equipped with manufacturer-installed wifi and tracking that authorities believed would assist in locating the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit does not say whether that was how Normand was found in Tennessee and arrested. The jail record in Tennessee says he was arrested on an out-of-state warrant but does not provide additional details.