Burglars Hit Convenience Store, Grab Cigarettes, Police Say

Bread delivery drivers interrupted a burglary at a convenience store in Whiting early Saturday morning, but the man who broke in took off from the scene after being discovered, Manchester Township Police said.

A Melone Brothers crew rolled up for a delivery to Country Farms on Route 530 just before 3 a.m. and called 911 after seeing smashed glass on the sidewalk and damage to the front door of the store, police said.

Inside, an unidentified man, who’d broken his way in with a crowbar, was stealing a large number of cigarette packs, police said, and stuffing them into a navy duffel bag.

The alleged burglar took off running when the delivery drivers arrived, police said, and jumped into a two-door sedan—possible a brown or gray Infiniti—which a getaway driver had parked behind the building.

The delivery drivers said the car took off from the parking lot, its headlights off, and headed east on Route 530 toward Berkeley Township, police said.

Though there was no description of the getaway driver, police said the alleged burglar was a white man, roughly 6 feet tall, wearing blue jeans and black Ecko Unlimited hoodie.

The incident remains under investigation, with help from the Manchester Township Investigations Bureau and the Ocean County Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigation Unit.