Glassboro Grinch who climbed, broke town Christmas Tree charged by police

Adam Devine

GLASSBORO, NJ – A man who was seen climbing the Glassboro Town Square Christmas tree earlier this week has been identified and caught by police thanks to a witness who recorded the incident.

According to police, on Friday at approximately 2:10 a.m., Glassboro police units responded to the Glassboro Town Square for a disturbance. It was reported that there was a male climbing the Christmas tree in the park, attempting to remove the star. The male observed the police approaching and was able to dismount the tree and flee on foot.

There was a section of lights near the top of the tree that was disconnected, multiple lights throughout the tree that were no longer illuminated, and there were several branches removed from the tree.

There were multiple witnesses in the park and one witness was willing to share a video that was taken with their mobile phone. Utilizing the video provided by the witness, assistance from Rowan Police, and help from an anonymous tip to our tip line, the male was identified as William Fowler, 19 years old of Demarest, New Jersey.


Further investigation found that the large Santa hat decoration in Town Square had also been damaged. It had been knocked over and the support frame damaged. Surveillance footage of the area revealed Mr. Fowler and another male, later identified as Matthew Lubicky, 19 years old of Delran, New Jersey, causing the damage.

Additional surveillance revealed that prior to the damage at Town Square, Mr. Fowler and Mr. Lubicky committed additional criminal mischief inside the Mick Drive parking garage. Both males attempted to aggressively pull down bicycles locked to a wall mount, after which, Mr. Fowler then proceeded to kick the rear bumper of a parked vehicle, causing damage. The total cost of damages and additional cost of labor to repair the Town Hall decorations is estimated at close to $6,000.

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