Barnegat man arrested for spray painting derogatory phrases

Barnegat Police worked quickly and tirelessly to find who had been spray painting a series of derogatory phrases across town and placed the man under arrest.

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Police Chief Keith Germain issued a statement on Thursday announcing the arrest of 41-year old Peter Cook of Lower Shore Road who now faces 14 counts of Criminal Mischief in connection to the series of incidents which runs a bill of $1,100 in associated damages.

Patrolman Robert Armstrong made the arrest of Cook who had spray painted several bus stops, signs and fences along Route 9, Rose Hill Road and Bengal Boulevard in Barnegat in the overnight hours of September 1st or 2nd.

After being processed, Cook was released pending a court date.

Chief Germain indicted in the release that there was no way BTPD was going to let this case go involved.

"In a lot of towns, the damage would have been repaired and the agency would have moved on-- as these cases typically go unsolved. We do things a little differently here. We continue to believe that allowing the small problems to fester and go unresolved leads to bigger problems down the road.

In this case, Ptl. Armstrong pursued this with tenacity and determination uncovering both physical and video evidence that led to the charges. We will not ignore problems here, whether quality of life or otherwise-- and there will be consequences for committing offenses in our town.

Kudos to Ptl. Armstrong for the outstanding police work and to our Barnegat community that continues to partner with and support our officers in keeping this the safest town around."

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