Stafford shoplifting suspect charged, with your help

Remember the guy seen on surveillance images walking two TVs out of the Stafford Wal-Mart that police said were unpaid? They have him, and they credit your help in finding him.

Alexander Witzke, 28, of Little Egg Harbor, is charged with two counts of shoplifting and awaits a grand jury hearing in Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, police said.

Witzke is suspected of taking two flat-screens, one 48" and one 43", valued at $500, from the Route 72 store. He's also accused of walking a 43" flat-screen worth $400 out of the Stafford K-Mart.

Police said that almost as immediately after they tweeted the image, placed it on Facebook and sent it to media outlets, tips began rolling in.

The episode prompted a statement by Chief Joseph Giberson:

“The Stafford Township Police Department would like to thank the members of the public that assisted us in quickly identifying Witzke.  The cooperation of our community partners allowed the police department to quickly conclude this investigation and resulted in the closure of another theft that had not yet been reported to this Agency.  We post notices of crimes, crime prevention tips, and other useful information to our Twitter, Facebook and Nixle social media sites and urge all residents to follow us so that together we can make Stafford Township a safer place to live”.