Bon Jovi burglar arrested after breaking into home in Toms River

By Erik Weber
Riverside Signal 

TOMS RIVER – For the second time in less than seven months, 21-year-old Beachwood resident Nicholas J. Tracy was arrested and charged with burglarizing a residence by shore area police.

Late Wednesday morning, township police were dispatched to the home of a Whitty Road resident after receiving a report of a confrontation with a burglar on their second floor, after which the suspect ran from the residence and fled on bicycle. Approximately 15 minutes later, Officer Paul Kaminski observed Mr. Tracy, who matched the resident’s description of the suspect, riding a bicycle in the area of the Ocean County Mall.

Mr. Tracy ignored the officer’s commands to stop and continued on his bike through the parking lot, eventually stopping near the Route 571 mall exit, at which time Officer Kaminski exited the vehicle. The Clubhouse Road resident then fled on foot and was pursued, surrendering to the officer across the highway near the Seacourt Pavilion.

Following an investigation by Detective Glen Lucas and Officer Mike McDonald, Mr. Tracy was identified as the suspect who burglarized the township residence, was charged with burglary and taken to the Ocean County Jail on $15,000 bail.

This is the second time Mr. Tracy, a former resident of Pine Beach, was arrested and charged with burglary.

According to investigators and court documents, his earlier string of heists allegedly began on March 14th with the theft of approximately $100,000 worth of jewelry from the Middletown home of George Kolber, the former chief operating officer of American Eagle Outfitters and Value City Department Stores.  Ten days later, Mr. Tracy’s car was photographed by Red Bank’s hyperlocal news website Red Bank Green as it was parked near the downtown of that municipality with a bust of Napoleon in his passenger seat. At the time, Mr. Tracy told the photographer that he was moving into an apartment in Red Bank. One week later, Mr. Tracy allegedly struck again, netting approximately $300,000 worth of jewelry from the Little Silver residence of ophthalmologist Martin Uram on April 1st. Neither burglary resulted in an arrest at that time.

On Wednesday April 20th, Middletown Township police were alerted to a tripped burglar alarm at the Middletown home of rock and roll artist Jon Bon Jovi. Upon searching the house, Patrolman Ryan Riffert and Patrolman Carl Roth found and arrested Mr. Tracy, who was hiding in a third floor bathroom. The follow up investigation resulted in the Clubhouse Road resident being charged with at least the earlier heists, including four counts of third-degree burglary and three counts of second-degree theft. Many of the items stolen from the earlier crimes were recovered during the investigation.

Following the springtime series of arrests, Beachwood Police Lieutenant Robert L. Tapp commented that these were “isolated individuals that do not properly represent the youth and young adults from this community.”

Throughout the summer months, Mr. Tracy was frequently seen riding his bike in the downtown Beachwood area, near his residence.

Posted by Ocean County News on Oct 27 2011. Filed under News, Police Blotter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.