A Red Bank couple was assaulted and shot at in an early-morning burglary and pursuit early Thursday Friday morning, police say.
According to Captain Darren McConell, five men, at least two of them carrying handguns, forced their way in through the front door of a condominium on Tower Hill, off Prospect Avenue, at about 2 a.m.
One of the occupants, a 21-year-old man, was struck on the head with a gun, and a 20-year-old female resident was pepper-sprayed and threatened with a gun, McConnell said.
From a PD press release:
The suspects proceeded to search the home for valuables, removing a small safe, a watch belonging to the female victim, and two cell phones. The safe contained an unspecified amount of currency and personal documents. The suspects then fled the scene but were followed by the victims in their vehicle. The victims were able to obtain a description of the men, all described as black males in their 20s. The victims also provided police with a description of the vehicle, a white Ford Explorer along with a plate number. The victims followed the vehicle to Branch Avenue, where it is believed one of the suspects fired a single shot at the victims vehicle causing them to stop following the suspects and respond to the police department to make the report. The vehicle was subsequently stopped by Keansburg police officers in that jurisdiction approximately two hours later, but being driven by a female, without any male occupants.
McConnell said the couple did not have a landline, and were left without phones by the theft of their cellphones. They left their home to drive to the police station when, “by happenstance,” they came upon the perpetrators, who were in a vehicle that was traveling erratically, McConnell said.
Though no other witnesses have come forward to report hearing a shot, and no evidence of one was found, police are reasonably certain one was fired, McConnell said.
The woman stopped in Keansburg was questioned by Red Bank police and not arrested, he said, though police have identified her car as the one used in the vehicle.
“We located some evidence in the vehicle that was tied to the crime,” he told redbankgreen.
Anyone with helpful information is asked to call Sergeant Michael Frazee of the detective bureau at 732-530-2700.
