$1M bail for Brick bank robbery suspect

BRICK TOWNSHIP — Police last week arrested a township man in front of the ShopRite supermarket in connection with a local bank robbery, Capt. John E. Rein Jr. said. He is also a suspect in a number of bank robberies in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex counties

Peter A. Bielecki, 40, was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River in lieu of $1 million bail, Capt. John E. Rein Jr. said. Brick police charged Bieleckiwith one count of robbery stemming from the Jan. 29 robbery of the Provident Bank in Brick. His arrest was the result of a multijurisdictional effort by Brick police, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, Rein said.

Bielecki was apprehended after Brick detectives developed information about a possible vehicle used in recent bank robberies and relayed the information to area police departments, he said.

Wall Township Patrolman Douglas Borst saw a vehicle matching the description of the car at 5 p.m. March 6. He followed the car into Brick near the area of the Ocean Ice Palace on Chambers Bridge Road, where he lost sight of the vehicle in heavy traffic, Rein said.

Brick Patrolman Jason Matthews later spotted the unoccupied car in the Cedarwood Drive area. Police watched the car until a man entered the vehicle and drove south on Chambers Bridge Road. The suspect parked in the ShopRite lot, where he was stopped by police.

Bielecki matched the physical description of the suspect in several bank robberies, including the Provident Bank. Police also recovered evidence and proceeds from an Old Bridge bank robbery earlier that day, Rein said.

Bielecki is a suspect in other bank robberies in Brick, Lakewood, Toms River, Howell and Old Bridge, Rein said. The investigations into those robberies are continuing.