Christmas Eve Burglar Tracked, Arrested by Neptune City Police
By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
A homeless man was arrested Christmas Eve in Neptune City for ransacking and burglarizing a Tucker Drive home.
When the resident of the home returned from being out he found his home ransacked with the intruder, later identified as Kenneth Lynch, 43, still on the premises.
Lynch fled and the resident chased him along with another citizen who was in the area.
Lynch was chased towards W. Sylvania Ave. but the chase ended when the resident stopped and called the police.
Officers from Neptune City, Neptune Township and Avon set up a perimeter around the area and a K-9 unit from Wall was called in to track the suspect.
The K-9 officer tracked Lynch throughout the perimeter and he was eventually flushed out of the perimeter and a second perimeter was set up.
Lynch was spotted in that area at 8 a.m. in a rear yard in the 100 block of Third Avenue.
As he attempted to flee he was tackled in a side yard while trying to climb over a fence.
Lynch was taken to the Neptune City Police Department where he implicated himself in the burglary.
During the interview Lynch also admitted to an attempted burglary on Neptune Avenue that he tried to enter while running from police.
He was scared off by an alert resident.
Lynch also admitted committing a burglary in Neptune Township a few days earlier.
Detectives from Neptune Township and Neptune City conducted an investigation and linked Lynch to several burglaries in their jurisdictions.
Lynch was charged by Neptune City police with burglary, theft and criminal mischief from the Tucker Drive incident.
He was also charged with attempted burglary for the Neptune Avenue incident.
Additional charges are pending for the other reported burglaries.
Lynch was eventually committed to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $50,000 bail for the Neptune City incidents.
Read more about your town by picking up The Coaster at your local newsstand or subscribe today.
Published every Thursday.
