TOMS RIVER - One of the most infamous motels in the township just burnished its reputation. 

Americana Motel Arrests (Toms River Police Dept.)
Americana Motel Arrests (Toms River Police Dept.)
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Equipped with two warrants on the day before Thanksgiving, Toms River police rounded up 10 drug and warrant suspects - including the manager - at the Americana Hotel on Route 166.

The inn's recent past includes a stabbing death in 2014, and a three-year sentence for the owner for pocketing $81,000 in unqualified Superstorm Sandy relief.

On November 22, The Toms River PD Special Enforcement Team and the township's Quality of LIfe Task Force undertook the raid with the pair of warrants, one specifically for the manager's office, and also wrote up the motel for fire code violations, police said.

The Quality of Life Task Force, a multi-agency collaboration tasked specifically with matters of safety, law enforcement, and fire, code and zoning compliance, most recently had a hand in arresting 15 drug suspects at the Red Carpet Inn, also on Route 166, downtown at the edge of the Toms River.

Arrestees' points of origin span a broad swath of Ocean County, from Waretown to Brick to Seaside Heights. The suspects, and charges, are:

  • Craig Soltes, 42, motel manager: possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS), possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Joel Cotto, 37, Waretown: possession of CDS, possession of CDS with intent to distribute
  • Lisamarie Narciso,  26, South Toms River: possession of CDS, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Carl Disalvo,  65, Beachwood: possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Alexander Salek, 29, Toms River: possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Donna Salek, 53, Toms River: possession of CDS, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Caitlin Mayer, 29, Brick: contempt of court warrants, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe
  • Joseph Davis, 47, Seaside Heights: contempt of court warrants totaling $500
  • Matthew Diaz, 53, Toms River: contempt of court warrants totaling $2,500
  • Lennon Ambrose, 38, Forked River: contempt of court warrants totaling $6,250.

Charges are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless, and until, found guilty in a court of law.

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