UPDATE: Police Identify Alleged Crestwood Village Burglar, Issue Charges

police have a 26-year-old man in custody in connection with a months-long string of burglaries in the Crestwood Villages. 

Jason M. Clancy was arrested after 10:30 p.m. Thursday at the Mill Road home in Crestwood Village VI where he lives with his parents, Chief of Police Brian Klimakowski said.

"We thought he was in that area, and sure enough he was," Klimakowski said Thursday night. 

So far, Clancy has been charged with three counts of burglary, two counts of theft and three counts of criminal mischief, Capt. Lisa Parker said Friday morning. The investigation continues and police expect that more charges "are forthcoming," the captain said. 

"Jason Clancy was arrested at his home where much of the proceeds from the burglaries were recovered," Parker said. 

Clancy was taken to the Ocean County Jail in lieu of $35,000.00 bail with no 10 percent option, according to Parker. 

A positive fingerprint identification obtained from one of the targeted homes led police to identify the man as the alleged burglar. His name was not immediately released Thursday night while he was being processed, Klimakowski said. 

Police were investigating multiple burglaries and attempted burglaries in Crestwood Villages I, VI and VII, in which unlocked doors and windows were used to enter homes. The total number of completed or attempted burglaries in the villages had risen to 60 since early July; a third of those were entered and money and jewelry was taken, according to Parker. 

Village VI, where the suspect lives, appeared to have been hit the hardest by the burglaries, Klimakowski has said. Officers believed that the younger suspect may have been living in Crestwood Village with older family members given the proximity of the houses targeted, the chief has said. 

Assisting with the investigation were members of the Ocean County Sheriff's Department Crimalistics Investigation Unit and K9 units, the Toms River Township Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, Parker said. 

Parker asked that anyone with information on the burglaries contact Detective Craig Beaulieu 732-657-2009, ext. 4205.