Lakewood Police Accuse Man of Masturbating at Local Deli

Perhaps he misunderstood the term "friendly neighborhood grocer."

Lakewood Police say that Ronald Savoy of the township waited until a deli emptied out late Saturday afternoon, stripped, and began fondling himself in front of a clerk and her 8-year-old son.

The incident at La Palma Deli and Grocery on Ocean Avenue occurred, investigators said, at about 5:30 PM. He reportedly dressed quickly and ran when he realized that the woman behind the counter was calling police.

Officers Michael Young and Junior Vega tracked Savoy to a nearby bus depot and took him into custody.

But it isn't the end of the story. Investigators from the township and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office contend that it was the second night in a row that Savoy had entered the same store, undressed, and pleasured himself, leaving the first time when a woman working in the shop yelled to him to leave.

Savoy now faces two counts lewdness, tender years sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was placed in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. A judge set bail at $100,000 with no option for release on payment of 10 percent.