Toms River Man, 69, Charged With Torching Six Vehicles Worth More Than $1M

Handcuffs (Shorebeat File Photo/ banspy/ Flickr)

A Toms River man has been arrested and charged with setting ablaze a group of commercial vehicles belonging to a local business in Wall Township, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Thursday.

Harcourt “Paul” S. Ward, 69, of Toms River, has been charged with four counts of second-degree arson in connection with a fire that was responsible for the destruction of six vehicles.

On Monday evening, Sept. 26, at approximately 10:11 p.m., the Wall Township Police Department received a call for a fire at the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue. Upon arrival, members of the Wall Township Police Department and Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office found six total vehicles on fire.

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“An investigation revealed that Ward, of Ward Realty and Insurance in Point Pleasant was the person responsible for purposely setting the vehicles ablaze,” a statement from prosecutors issued Thursday said. “The estimated value of the damage caused by the fire was over $1 million.”

Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Joshua Rios at 800-533-7443 or Wall Township Police Detective Zach Honecker at 732-449-4500.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin J. Sidley, of the Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau. Legal representation for Ward was not immediately available.