HOWELL — Four young men were arrested on Sept. 1 after a pair of drive-by shootings with a BB gun left two men with superficial wounds.
According to Howell Police Detective Sgt. Eileen Dodd, the first incident took place at 1:30 p.m. when a man was shot while he was riding a bicycle on Bergerville Road.
Police said the man told responding officers a gold car, which he believed to be a Nissan Altima, came up next to him while he was riding the bicycle. He said the vehicle came to a stop, and he was shot at by an individual in the car. The man told police a BB grazed his left calf and broke the skin.
Police said the man was able to provide the officers with a detailed description of the vehicle, the individuals inside it and the direction in which the vehicle fled from the scene.
A short time later, police received a call from a man on Gristmill Road, which is in a residential development off Sunnyside Road.
The man told the officers who responded to the call that he was doing yard work when someone in a vehicle fired three shots at him.
The man’s description of the vehicle on Gristmill Road matched the description of the vehicle from the incident on Bergerville Road.
Police said the man was hit with one shot near his collarbone which tore a 1-inch circular patch of skin away from the area. The other two shots that were fired at him missed.
The man provided a description of the car and of the individuals in the car, the direction in which the vehicle fled and a partial license plate number.
A short time later, Sgt. Ron Rhein located the vehicle at a convenience store at Route 9 and White Street, and four young men who fit the descriptions provided by the shooting victims.
Police said Juwan Meredith, 20, of Howell, Khiry Carpenter, 20, of Freehold Borough, and two male juveniles, ages 16 and 17, were taken into custody. All four individuals were charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
A Tanfoglio 6mm airsoft pistol, believed to be used in both incidents, was found in the vehicle along with 15 compressed air cartridges and a bag of BBs.
Police said the vehicle, which was identified as a gold 2003 Nissan Maxima, was seized for forfeiture.
Meredith and Carpenter were placed in the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, after failing to post $30,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
The two juveniles were taken to the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center, North Brunswick.