A gunpoint holdup in the middle of a quiet night in Barnegat lands four suspects behind bars.

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Angelo Grenci, 38, of Toms River, is charged with first-degree armed robbery in connection with the July 28 incident on Bowline Street, according to township police. He also faces two weapons-possession counts.

Melissa King, 32, of Long Branch, and Anastasio Skentzos, 35, of Toms River, are charged with first-degree robbery. Skentzos also faces a weapons count.

Edwin Nieves, 39, of Seaside Heights, is jailed on a no-bail warrant for violation of probation.

At 3:00 AM Tuesday, Barnegat police were alerted to the incident. A 30-year-old man had gone to Bowline Street for an encounter with King when a man approached, pointed a gun at him, then used the weapon to beat the victim about the head while taking his two cell phones and beating a hasty exit with King in a white BMW, police said.

The victim trailed them to Berkeley Township and stopped to report the robbery at Berkeley police headquarters. Shortly after, a South Toms River cop on patrol spotted the BMW and alerted Barnegat officers, who arrived to apprehend Grenci, Skentzos and Nieves and impound the car pending the acquisition of a search warrant.

Investigators learned that King had a room at the Clarion in Toms River. She was found there by Toms River police. A search of King's room by Barnegat police yielded a backpack, which they confiscated while arresting King and seeking a search warrant for the bag, authorities said.

Searches of the car and backpack produced a Desert Eagle semi-automatic .50-caliber handgun, police said.

All four were placed in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. Bail for Grenci and Skentzos was set at $500,000 each, and King's bail was set at $300,000. None have the option of release on payment of 10 percent, police said.

 

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