Five adults, two minors tied to Middletown house burglaries, mugging

Two house burglaries and a mugging in Middletown's Bayshore section, all within nine days, lead to arrests of seven suspects from four towns.

Mina Mansour, 18, of Hazlet, and a pair of juveniles from Middletown and Keansburg face charges connected to a January 7 ransacking of a home on Appletown Avenue, in the township's Leonardo section. Police said that the victim was stripped of possessions and was seriously injured in the process.

All three were charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and aggravated assault. Mansour was charged with employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime. One of the minors was placed in the Middlesex County Detention Center, and the other was released to a parent, police said. Mansour was detained in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) in Freehold, and later released.

Based on their initial investigation, Detectives Daniel Sullivan and Keith Hirschbein tied Mansour and the Keansburg youth to the second burglary, January 9. In addition to filing more charges against them, investigators also arrested Robert Fiore, 19, of Keyport, and Paul Rosenberger, 19, of Belford.

They are charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and attempted burglary. Mansour is again charged with employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, as are Fiore and Rosenberger. The adults were remanded to MCCI.

A week later, January 16, a 29-year-old man reported being robbed by two men while on the Henry Hudson Trail, telling police that the pair took off on bicycles toward Keansburg.

Ernest W. Lapointe, 40, of Keansburg, was apprehended nearby, moments later, by Patrolman Kent Thornton. The second suspect, Brandon A. Witkowski, 19, also of Keansburg, was subsequently identified by Detective Albert Scott.

Both were sent to MCCI to await hearings on counts of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and theft.

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