Crime & Safety

Sobriety Checkpoint Leads to 13 Arrests

Thirteen people have been arrested as part of a sobriety checkpoint conducted by the Brick Township Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. 

The checkpoint detail - held Aug. 30 -  was funded through a grant from the NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS), Brick police said in a prepared statement.

The checkpoint was conducted in the west parking lot of the Brick Township High School located at 346 Chambers Bridge Road in Brick. All vehicles that were travelling on Chambers Bridge Road northbound were directed into the checkpoint. 

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Once inside the checkpoint, contact was made with drivers whom were given an informational pamphlet which described the dangers of drinking and driving.

Officers would then have drivers pull to the side for further investigation if they felt there were indicators of driving while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.  

Find out what's happening in Brickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A total of 825 vehicles passed through the checkpoint, which was in operation from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. 

The following three individuals were charged with driving while intoxicated: Luis A. Moreno-Matarrita, 44, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Maxwell R. Wimmer, 24, of Brick, NJ; and Marco A. Moreno, 37, of Brick, NJ.

In addition, Wimmer was charged with operating a motor vehicle not equipped with an interlock device.  Moreno-Matarrita was transported to the Ocean County Jail and held on an I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainer, police said.

The following seven people were charged with possession of controlled dangerous substances:

  • Donald E. Powell, 40, of Brick, NJ.

  • Frank T. Lepore, 24, of Brick, NJ.

  • Marylin Morales, 25, of Toms River, NJ.

  • William J. Witt, 33, of Toms River, NJ.

  • Heather Keegan, 28, of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.

  • Eric D. Suha, 35, of Brick, NJ.

  • Steven C. Fago, 28, of Toms River, NJ.

  • Also, 19-year-old Brick resident Samantha Binford was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, obstruction, possession of a fictitious driver’s license, and providing a motor vehicle to a person to circumvent an interlock device.

    Also police said, William McMenamin, 20, of Waretown and Daniel Disbro, 21, of Waretown were arrested and charged with theft and criminal mischief charges out of Lacey.

    McMenamin and Disbro were charged with four counts of theft and six counts of criminal mischief and lodged in the Ocean County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

    Four motor vehicles were impounded, and a total of 40 motor vehicle summonses were issued.

    Members of the Lacey Township Police Department, Manchester Township Police Department, and Point Pleasant Borough Police Department were also on scene to assist. 


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