Crime & Safety

Two Nabbed in Pre-Christmas Shopliftings

Cops make two arrests in separate incidents

Toms River police arrested two people on Monday for shoplifting items from township stores as the Christmas rush reached its peak.

At 11:40 a.m., Christos Stamatogiannis, 37, of Ocean Gate, was arrested by Officer Ken Oliver after loss prevention staff at Target on Hooper Avenue called police to report he had attempted to steal two Dyson vacuum cleaners valued at  $1,177, said Chief Michael Mastronardy. Officers conducted an investigation before the arrest.

Stamatogiannis was being held on $10,000 bail.

At 5 p.m., police went to the township's Walmart store after security officers there called for assistance. An investigation, Mastronardy said, led to the arrest of Dawn Serino, 44, of Howard Beach, N.Y., who police say attempted to remove a 47-inch Sony television worth $598. She was also stopped by loss prevention officers.

Serino was being held on $5,000 bail.

A photo of Stamatogiannis was not available.


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