LAKEWOOD, NJ – Friday was the third day of an ongoing FBI investigation in Lakewood Township related to medical equipment, but officials are still not even confirming the existence of the action.
It started Wednesday when over one dozen agents showed up at Lakewood Industrial Park warehouse.
WEDNESDAY
Agents showed up at a warehouse at approximately 4:30 pm located at 1980 Swarthmore Avenue. The warehouse of Deco-Tile was where the agents were entering and exiting, later some were seen bringing out boxes of medical supplies. No visible arrests were made. We contact the FBI Newark office who declined to comment about the case. When asked to confirm an earlier report on the Lakewood Scoop to see if the investigation was a case of mistaken identity, the agency seemed surprised by the question but refused to answer, suggesting it was not.
FBI press spokesperson Patty Hartman, of the Newark field office, declined to offer details of the investigation.
THURSDAY
On Thursday, the FBI returned to Lakewood, this time at an industrial park building located at 155 Oberlin in the morning hours. It was at this operation that it was learned that the FBI was looking into large quantities of protective medical masks. Agents loaded at least four box trucks full of medical masks.
At Governor Murphy’s daily COVID-19 press conference, Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged the FBI investigation in Lakewood.
“Because it looks like a law enforcement matter, we won’t have much to say,” Governor Phil Murphy said regarding the two days of FBI and Department of Justice raids against Lakewood businesses. “U.S. Attorney and FBI are both involved and I’m sure our Attorney General will also be involved.”
FRIDAY
FBI agents were once again spotted in Lakewood, this time at a residential home in the vicinity of New Hampshire Avenue and Oak Street to investigate a report of a residential homeowner with a large supply of medical equipment and masks in a garage.
To date, no visible arrests have been made and it appears the investigation is ongoing. Neither the Lakewood Police, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, New Jersey Attorney General, or the FBI have publicly commented on the events transpiring in the township as of yet.
In related news…
As one chapter in the FBI’s history opens, another has apparently come to a close as former disgraced Toms River Regional Schools superintendent Michael Ritacco has been released from prison, nearly two years ahead of schedule.
Former Toms River School Chief Michael Ritacco Released From Prison