Suspect In Assaults Made Antisemitic Comments To Police, Records Show

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The suspect in a string of attacks in Lakewood and Jackson on Friday that left three Orthodox Jewish men hospitalized made antisemitic comments to police officers after he was arrested, documents show.

He also admitted to a carjacking, hitting people with a car, and stabbing someone, police documents reveal.

Dion Marsh, 27, of Manchester, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of bias intimidation in the attacks, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and Lakewood Police said in a joint news release.

One man was stabbed and two others were hit by a car in separate incidents that started with a carjacking Friday afternoon, authorities have said.

Investigators have determined that Marsh was acting alone, the prosecutor's office said. The prosecutor's office confirmed Sunday that the three victims were Orthodox Jewish men.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said one victim, the man Marsh is accused of hitting with a car in Jackson, is in "critical but stable" condition. All other victims have gone home.

The Lakewood Scoop reported the stabbing victim came home Tuesday, and shared video of family and friends welcoming him with music and dancing the Hora.

Police did not release the victims' ages.

Related coverage:

• Man Faces Bias Charges In Stabbing, Hit-And-Runs In Lakewood, Jackson
• Ocean County Jewish Community Shaken After 3 Men Attacked

New details from the affidavit of probable cause and criminal complaint against Marsh, filed by Lakewood Police, show how the attacks unfolded and how police tracked him down.

Lakewood Police began investigating on April 8 at 1:18 p.m., according to the criminal complaint filed with Marsh's arrest. A man reported that another man forced him out of his car, a gray Toyota Camry, and assaulted him in the area of Pine Street and Martin Luther King.

Surveillance footage showed a suspect "attempt to carjack two other vehicles which were unsuccessful."

Lakewood Police began sharing the suspect's photo with other agencies in New York and New Jersey, records show.

The next attacks were reported at 6:06 p.m. A man said he was hit by a car and described a dark or maroon-colored vehicle, at Central and Carlton in Lakewood, police documents show. This was a different car than the gray Toyota.

At that same time, another man reported that a "skinny black male wearing a shirt and tie" had tried to get his son into a car.

"The suspect was reported to physically grab the victim and attempt to pull him into the vehicle," police said in their report.

At 6:55, police took another 911 call. The caller said a man had been stabbed in the chest at Pine Circle Drive and Lakewood New Egypt Road. The 911 caller described a suspect who was driving a four-door sedan. "The suspect was described as wearing a black suit, white shirt 'dressed as a Jewish male,'" police records show.

Another report came in to police at 8:23 that night, that a pedestrian was hit on Galassi Court in Jackson Township. Police found the stolen Toyota Camry on White Road near the scene. Police K-9s were unable to find a suspect.

A concerned citizen called a Lakewood Police officer and said they saw surveillance footage of the suspect, and recognized Dion Marsh. The officer found Marsh's phone number through a law enforcement database, and confirmed it was his phone with a family member.

"The family member also advised that Dion Marsh made a comment to the effect 'it's going to be a blood bath' shortly after a recent breakup with his girlfriend," police wrote.

Marsh's ex girlfriend told police she had not seen him in some time but said he "has recently been exhibiting signs of paranoia," police wrote.

An Ocean County Prosecutor's Office detective got a no-knock warrant to search Marsh's residence on Falcon Street in Manchester and took him into custody that night.

Marsh told Lakewood Police the following, records show:

The subject admitted that today (April 8) he was outside of the church in Lakewood at approximately 1300 hours and was attempting to get a ride back to his residence. He stated that he attempted to get in multiple vehicles, and when he could not he forced the driver out of one vehicle, a grey 2016 Toyota Camry, and fled the area in the vehicle. He advised that he then went home for a period of time to 3b Falcon Street. Marsh then admitted that he used his grandmother's vehicle, a maroon Honda...and traveled back to the Lakewood Area, striking a male later identified as [redacted] at Carlton and Central Ave with his vehicle. Marsh then advised that he came back to the area in the Grey Toyota Camry and struck an individual with his vehicle at Pine Circle Drive and Lakewood New Egypt Road. He advised that the male made comments after he struck him and grabbed his phone, and he then exited the vehicle, grabbed a steak knife which he brought from his grandmother's house, and stabbed the victim with the knife. He stated that while in Jackson he was involved in the Jackson pedestrian strike advising that he drove over the curb which caused his vehicle to become disabled. He then walked from the area and was able to hitchhike with an unknown subject back to his grandmother's residence at 3B Falcon Street in Manchester Township.

Dion Marsh advised when asked why he did all the acts he committed, he stated "it had to be done" that "these are the real devils", and when asked to whom he was referring," the Hasidic Jews".

Marsh is being held in Ocean County Correctional with no bail, jail records show.