Police seek suspect in store robbery

Suspect in Radio Shack robbery

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Police are still searching for the suspect who robbed the Radio Shack electronics store in the South Freehold Shopping Center, Route 9, on Dec. 16. Freehold Township police Capt. James Lasky said that as employees were preparing to close the store at 10 p.m., a white male walked in the front door, displayed a gun and ordered the two employees to the back of the store.

After taking the employees' cell phones from them and turning them off, the man went to the store's cash register and removed $100 in cash. He then took two garbage bags out of his pants pockets and filled them with electronic equipment from the shelves, Lasky said.

The man exited through the store's back door. He left the employees' cell phones in the store. Lasky said the employees were shaken up, but not hurt.

Police are continuing to search for a white male who is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a black "watch cap," a black fleece jacket and dark pants. He was wearing white work gloves at the time of the incident.

Anyone with information about the Radio Shack theft may call Detective William Holohan at 732-462-7500.

Another incident kept police busy at 12:45 a.m. Dec. 18 when officers were called to respond to a report of an altercation at T.G.I. Friday's on Route 9. A verbal argument at the restaurant escalated into an assault and resulted in one person being taken to a hospital.

According to Lasky, the incident started with a verbal disagreement between a white male and two Hispanic males.

At some point after the initial confrontation, the two Hispanic males saw the man they had been arguing with and hit him over the head with a beer bottle. That assault occurred in the restaurant's rest room.

The victim, a 30-year-old resident of Freehold Borough, was transported to CentraState Medical Center, West Main Street, where he received treatment for head injuries, according to Lasky. The victim was treated and released.

No description of the suspects was provided, but Lasky said employees of the restaurant stated that the two Hispanic men had been seen in the business on prior occasions. Anyone with information about the T.G.I. Friday's incident may call Officer Jeffrey Palladino or Detective William Rette at 732-462-7500.

— Clare Marie Celano