INVEST INTO SOUTH TOMS RIVER TRUCK FIRE LEADS TO ARSON, BURGLARY AND AUTO THEFT CHARGES
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Yesterday (7/12), Jesse James Sauer, 25, of Beachwood was arrested and charged by the South Toms River Police Department with Aggravated Arson, Hindering and Destruction of Evidence for the July 10, 2017 truck fire in a wooded area of South Toms River. Additionally, Sauer was charged by the Toms River Police Department with Theft of a Motor Vehicle and multiple counts of Burglary/Theft to residences and vehicles.
The arson charge stems from the 7/10 early morning fire that destroyed a truck in the woods off Oak Street and Briar Way. The Beachwood Volunteer Fire Department responded to a report of smoke at about 5:45 am that day and extinguished the blaze that destroyed the 2003 Ford F350 truck.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI, Ocean County Fire Marshall, South Toms River, Toms River and Beachwood Police Departments investigated the fire labeled suspicious. The partnering agencies concluded that the fire originated in the area of the driver’s seat in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The cause of the fire was incendiary by a person(s) using an open flame to available combustibles.
The investigation would ultimately lead to Sauers and develop information implicating him in the alleged Toms River Theft of a motor vehicle and multiple home and vehicle burglaries. Sauer is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.