Four arrested in armed robbery of Brick pizza-delivery man

BRICK TOWNSHIP — Police recently arrested a township woman and man and two juveniles in connection with the armed robbery of a Vinnie's Pizza delivery employee.

Chiquita Hunter, 29, Sawmill Road, Julian Martino, 18, Sawmill Road, and the two male juveniles, a 16-year-old from Brick and a 14- year-old from Lakewood, were all charged with armed robbery and possession of a weapon, Capt. John E. Rein Jr. said.

The incident occurred at 10:26 p.m. April 8, police said, when the employee attempted to deliver a pizza to a home on Beverly Beach Drive. The resident denied calling in the order, and the employee, a 42-year-old Browns Mills resident, began walking back to his car. He was approached by three males, one armed with a handgun. They demanded his money, but the employee ran from the subjects and called for help. The suspects then entered a car and left the area. The employee got back in his car, followed the suspects and took down their license

plate number. The suspects were seen entering the Maple Leaf Estates complex on Sawmill Road in the Herbertsville section of the township.

Two plainclothes Brick police officers were in the area and saw the employee driving erratically on Herbertsville Road and then onto Sawmill Road. When the officers approached the employee, he told them about the robbery and pointed out the suspects' car. Police found Hunter in the car and arrested her. A number of officers and a K-9 dog then swarmed the area, conducted a door-by-door search and located the other three suspects in an apartment in the complex. Police recovered a silver-colored imitation .45-caliber pistol.

Hunter and Martino were taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. Their bails were set at $200,000 and $150,000, respectively. The juveniles were lodged in the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center in Toms River.

The incident is under investigation by Detectives James Burgess and Joseph Oliveri.