Crime & Safety

Once Charged With Robbery, Lacey Man Now Caught Up In Berkeley Drug Scheme

A 28-year-old Lacey man finds himself facing the judicial system for at least the second time in two years.

The man, 28-year-old Michael Visinski of Maple Road in Lanoka Harbor, was one of two Lacey residents charged Tuesday night with drug distribution in Berkeley, police said.

Two years ago, Visinski was one of two Lacey men arrested on the strength of a $75,000 warrant issued by the Toms River Police Department related to robbery.

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Then, Toms River Police arrested Visinski along with Michael Sandella, 24, of Oak Hill Court in Lanoka Harbor after an investigation into a robbery and theft that occurred at Sears in the Ocean County Mall.

An 84-year-old Barnegat woman had been in the parking lot when her purse was removed from her arm and one suspect ran across Hooper Avenue. Information on how that case was adjudicated was unavailable at press time.

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This past week, while conducting a surveillance in a parking lot in Berkeley Township, police detectives witnessed a Lacey resident conducting a "suspicious meeting" with a second man, police said.

Visinski was in a vehicle driven by 28-year-old Michael Toms of Windsor Street in Forked River, police said.

A Lacey and Berkeley police investigation led to the arrest of both Visinski and Toms for possession and distribution of oxycodone pills, police said.

Both suspects were transported to Berkeley Township Police Department for processing.  Each was charged with possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute and were released on their own recognizance pending a court appearance.

Oxycodone (an opiate) is a Schedule II narcotic often prescribed for pain. 

Detectives from the Berkeley Township Police Department assisted with the arrest.


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