David Giordano (Photo: Ocean County Jail)
A Toms River man has been charged with causing a false public alarm Feb. 5 after he allegedly placed a grouping of items that appeared similar to an explosive in a major intersection in town, police say. He was apprehended two days later following a car accident in North Jersey, in which drugs were allegedly found during a search.
The incident began about 9 p.m. Saturday night, according to a statement from the Ocean County Prosecutors Office announcing the arrest of David Giordano, 36, of Toms River.
Police officers were called to the area of Hooper Avenue and Washington Street or a report of a suspicious item in the roadway. Responding officers arrived to find a car battery with a power inverter attached to it. A strand of blue LED Christmas lights was plugged into the power inverter and the other end of the lights was attached to a Clorox bleach bottle containing liquid, the statement said.
The device was set up in the center of Hooper Avenue between the Ocean County courthouse and the Ocean County Administration Building.
“Out of concern that the device might be explosive in nature, the area between Hooper Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Washington Street was shut down to traffic,” the statement said. “A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit, and Berkeley Township Hazardous Materials Unit, was able to determine that the device in the roadway was not an improvised explosive device.”
An investigation by the prosecutor’s arson unit and Toms River detectives indicated that Giordano was responsible for placing the device in the roadway, the statement said.
Giordano was charged with the offense the following day while he remained at large. On Monday, police said, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Garden State Parkway near Bloomfield, N.J., after which he was taken to a medical facility in Belleville, N.J., and treated for his injuries. Prior to his release from the hospital, Giordano was taken into custody by officers from the Toms River Township Police Department. He was searched incident to his arrest, and officers “discovered him to be in possession of alprazolam, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia,” the statement said.
Giordano remained lodged in the Ocean County Jail on Tuesday. He is facing the original charge plus the simple possession of the drugs and paraphernalia.
