Menacing man arrested at 4 a.m. in Toms River neighborhood

🔵 The man also had gloves, a mask and a Swiss Tech emergency tool

🔵 He told police he was making TikTok videos and refused to identify himself

🔵 Toms River has had a series of carjackings, break-ins and burglaries

TOMS RIVER — A patrol officer stopped a man walking with a baseball bat wearing a mask through a neighborhood before dawn Friday morning.

The arrest comes as Toms River faces an increase in carjackings, break-ins and burglaries including one incident where thieves got away with $10,000 worth of jewelry and valuables.

Toms River police Lt. Gene Bachonski said the man wore latex gloves and a mask around 4 a.m. in the Tallymawr development. Video posted by The Lakewood Scoop shows the man being stopped and ordered to the ground as he drops what sounds like an aluminum bat.

The man told police he was making TikTok videos and refused to identify himself. A search found he was carrying a Swiss Tech emergency tool along with a window breaker.

He was later identified as Jacob Castillo, 20 from Lakewood and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and burglar tools, according to Bachonski.

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An increase in crime

At least three restaurants were burglarized along Route 37 in Manchester and Toms River late on April 25.

Video and images shows a rock or paver stone thrown through the doors of Pizza and Panini and Singas Famous Pizza and All-Star Bagel in Manchester shattering the glass allowing a thief to set inside and take the cash register.

Windows were also used to rob two businesses along Fischer Boulevard in Toms River in the early morning hours of April 17, according to police.

In another burglary, thieves broke into the Venzina Jewelry store inside the Ocean County Mall through a vacant space. They stole $1 million worth of items from a safe inside an office, according to Toms River police.

Bachonski did not disclose if any arrests have been made in any of the incidents.

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