Detective Awarded Exceptional Service Medal

The Mansfield Township Committee recently cited Detective MICHAEL REILLY for his exemplary and exceptional efforts and investigative techniques. The commitee commended him and bestowed upon him the EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE MEDAL on behalf of the citizens of the Township of Mansfield.

On June 21, 2006 in the early hours of the morning the Port Murray Auto Salvage was burglarized resulting in the taking of a Ford F-350 Truck and various auto parts. When leaving the yard the suspect drove the truck and crashed the gate.

Detective Michael Reilly used the company’s videotape system to obtain a picture of the suspect. Further investigation of the video tape revealed the suspect had been to the yard at an earlier time looking to buy a truck. The suspect was tracked to New Brunswick. With the cooperation and assistance of the New Brunswick Police, Detective Reilly went to the suspect’s residence, and not finding him at home advised the neighbors that the suspect was operating a stolen vehicle and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
The suspect was arrested without incident and the vehicle was recovered. The suspect was remanded to the Warren County Jail.

On July 25, 2006 a white male exposed himself to two young children, while in the Mansfield Township Wal-Mart with their parents. The suspect had then left the area. The children with their parents went out into the parking lot; saw the suspect leave in a mini van and obtained a partial license plate.

Using the Wal-Mart security video system, Detective Reilly obtained a picture of the suspect and the van he was driving leaving the parking lot. Using the video enhancement equipment of the New Jersey State Police Crime lab Detective Reilly was able to obtain a better picture of vehicle and suspect after over 10 hours of reviewing the video.

After obtaining information concerning the type and make of the vehicle with the assistance of Kevil Chevrolet Detective Reilly went back to the New Jersey State Police, who with the new information and the partial plate number reported by the children’s parents, identified a suspect vehicle in Ocean County. The driver of the van was a registered sex offender.