TOMS RIVER, NJ – A Pennsylvania woman has been indicted by an Ocean County Grand Jury on charges of aggravated arson and eluding police in connection with a February 2025 fire that injured a firefighter and a related vehicle pursuit in southern Ocean County.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that Juliette Tournier, 30, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, was formally indicted on January 28, 2026, following an extensive, multi-agency investigation linking her to both incidents in Surf City and Ship Bottom.
Authorities say the case began on February 19, 2025, when Surf City police and firefighters responded around 8:40 p.m. to a structure fire on North Central Avenue. One firefighter was injured while battling the blaze and later treated and released from Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford Township. Investigators determined the fire had two points of origin—one upstairs and one downstairs—and was deliberately set using ignitable liquids.
Earlier that same evening, at approximately 8:20 p.m., Ship Bottom police attempted to stop a Honda HRV traveling west on Route 72. The driver, later identified as Tournier, initially pulled over but then sped away, prompting police to terminate the pursuit for safety reasons. Investigators later discovered the vehicle’s license plate had been stolen earlier that day from a similar Honda in Cherry Hill.
Detectives identified Tournier as the suspect in both the plate theft and the eluding incident, leading to charges of Eluding and Receiving Stolen Property on February 20, 2025. After additional investigation, authorities charged her with Aggravated Arson five days later, concluding that she intentionally set the Surf City fire.
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Tournier surrendered to Surf City Police on February 26, 2025, was taken into custody, and later released under New Jersey Bail Reform guidelines.
- Juliette Tournier, 30, indicted on charges of aggravated arson and eluding in Ocean County.
- Investigators say she set a Surf City fire that injured a firefighter and fled from police earlier that night.
- The case involved cooperation among multiple New Jersey and Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies.
Prosecutor Billhimer credited Senior Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burke for presenting the case to the Grand Jury and praised the collaborative work of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit–Arson Squad, local police departments in Surf City, Ship Bottom, and Cherry Hill, as well as agencies in Horsham Township and Philadelphia.
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