Manalapan man charged with robbery, assault BY TALI ISRAELI Staff Writer MARLBORO - Police are still looking for a second suspect who was involved in an armed robbery that took place at the Marlboro Motor Lodge, Route 9, on Nov. 11. According to police, at 9:02 p.m. two men broke into a room at the motel as two men and one woman were in the room. One suspect attacked one of the men in the room with a crowbar and stole the man's wallet which contained $1,500 in cash, police said. The other two people in the room were not robbed or injured by the two suspects. The man who was attacked with the crowbar is a 44-year-old resident of Linden. Police said he was treated at a hospital for head lacerations sustained in the attack. The other man who was in the room is a resident of Freehold. The woman who was in the room is a 32-year-old resident of Manalapan. After receiving a call for help, Marl-boro police officers responded to the hotel. Subsequent to the officers' response, Marlboro police put out an alert to area police departments. According to Marlboro police Lt. Douglas Van Note, the bulletin requires that police vehicles in surrounding towns be stationed at prearranged locations which are based on the location of the incident being reported. The patrols are required to stay in their assigned positions until the alert is canceled or the individual is apprehended, Van Note said. At 9:49 p.m. a Chevrolet pickup truck that matched the description of the suspects' vehicle was spotted by Freehold Borough police on Center Street. The vehicle was stopped near Three Brooks Road and Route 33, Freehold Township. The driver, who police identified as Frederick Thomas Esposito, 19, of Man-alapan, was arrested and charged with armed robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to Marlboro Detective John Bise. Police said Esposito attacked the man in the hotel room. Esposito was placed in the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, and later released on $20,000 bail, according to Marlboro Capt. Brian Hall. The second suspect was not in the car with Esposito at the time of his arrest and had not been found as of Nov. 16. The identification of that man is still under investigation, police said. Bise said Esposito is not cooperating with the investigation. The woman from Manalapan who was in the room at the time of the attack was charged with possession of controlled dangerous substances, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing justice after giving the officers on the scene false information. Police said they withheld her name because she was a victim in the attack and because the second suspect has not been apprehended. The connection between the two men who broke into the hotel room and the three people who were in the room is still under investigation. Bise said written statements given by the people who were in the hotel room show conflicting stories regarding the incident. He said the man who was assaulted told police in his statement that he does not know either of the two suspects who entered the room.