Crime & Safety

Rumson, Fair Haven Teens Indicted on Burglary, Theft Charges

Five teens, including two juveniles, allegedly burglarized a Buena Vista Avenue home.

Three Rumson-Fair Haven area teens have been indicted on burglary and theft charges stemming from a post-Hurricane Sandy incident in Rumson.

Rumson police in January arrested five teens — two of them juveniles — who were allegedly responsible for the post-Sandy looting of a Buena Vista Avenue home sometime between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 that sparked a borough-wide rumor of mass-looting, police said.

The three teens over the age of 18 are now facing the charges of burglary and theft of moveable property, third-degree crimes, handed down by a grand jury in the indictment signed by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Facing one count each of the charges are: (Removed); Luke Jacobs, 19, formerly of Rumson, now of 20 Mount St., Red Bank; and Zachary Slootsky, 18, of 100 Third St., Fair Haven.

The indictment alleges that the three entered the victim's Rumson home unlawfully and stole "jewelry and other personal property valued in excess of $500."

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After the arrest was made, Rumson Police Chief Scott Paterson had said that the stolen merchandise also included electronics and cash and the original loss estimate valued at about $20,000.

Some of the losses were recovered, he added, explaining that some things were turned in by the alleged perpetrators and other property was located at different spots in and out of the area, such as Neptune.

"People heard about this one incident and word spread like wildfire that there was looting going on all throughout the borough after Sandy," Paterson had said. "That wasn't the case at all. It was just this one, singular incident, which we had been investigating since."

* An indictment does not indicate convictions. It means that formal charges have been handed down by a grand jury and the case will be heard in court.

Editor's Note: A name and information has been removed from this post because charges were dismissed.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.