LONG BRANCH-On January 25th, at approximately 3pm, the Long Branch Police received a call of a possible kidnapping near Prospect Street and Bath Ave. While officers were enroute to this call, another call came in from the same area concerning the robbery of a cell phone. SGT Robert Bell immediately responded to the area and was able to detain a subject who fit the description of the accused in both incidents. Officers Gary Vecchione, Daniel Richards and Hector Umana arrived shortly thereafter, and were able to ascertain that 3 separate incidents had occurred, all involving girls aged 12-14 that had either just exited the school bus or were walking home from school.
The accused, later identified as Daniel Omar Mejia-Reyes, approached the girls separately, but all within a few minutes of each other. In the first two incidents, he forcibly robbed the victims of their cell phones. In the last case he picked up the young victim and attempted to remove her from the area. In the first two cases, the bus driver and bus aide saw the robberies and came to the victim’s aid, and ushered the victims back onto the bus. In the last case, the victim was walking home from school, and she attempted to fight off her attacker, and was helped by another classmate.
Detectives arrived at the scene at the same time. Detective Jake Pascucci became the lead investigator and he was assisted by Detective SGT Brendan Cahill, Romano, O’Brien, Spitale and Kennedy. They were able to arrest Daniel Omar Mejia-Reyes, 27 years old, 383 Bath Avenue, and he was charged with 2 counts of Robbery, Criminal Restraint, Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact and Sexual Assault. He was remanded to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution with no bail and additionally held on an Immigration detainer.
The quick response time and actions by both the Patrol Division and the Detective Bureau, working together, brought this incident to a quick conclusion, ending in the arrest of the accused. Everyone involved, including the bus aide driver and student, should be commended. If anyone has any further information please contact DET Jake Pascucci at 732-222-1000.