Stolen Safe Turns Up in Brick Creek

A North Brunswick man is being held on gun charges after Lacey police investigated a home burglary with a unique Brick connection.

Jordan Schembri, 25, was arrested Wednesday after an investigation into an Oct. 8 home burglary in Forked River led authorities to search his North Brunswick home, where police said a stolen .45-caliber Kimber handgun was found.

Lacey police initially responded Oct. 8 to a Pensacola Road home after the resident reported that someone entered through an unlocked window and stole a safe containing cash and jewelry.

Lacey police soon learned that Brick police were summoned to Kettle Creek after a resident reported seeing someone dump an object into the water, police said, which turned out to be the stolen Forked River safe. 

The safe had been pried open and the cash and jewelry were stolen, police said. However, as a result of the investigation search warrants were served at a residence in Brick and two homes in North Brunswick.

The search of one of the North Brunswick homes yielded the handgun, which Lacey police say was stolen from a Pennsylvania home in 2006. 

Schembri has not been charged with the Forked River burglary. However, he remains lodged at the Middlesex County Jail on $75,000 bail after being charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a stolen handgun and certain person not to possess a weapon. 

If convicted, Schembri faces a five-year minimum prison term, Lacey police said.