A former resident of Holmdel has been found guilty by a state Superior Court jury in Freehold after a five-week trial relating to an arson and firing a weapon into a Holmdel business, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.
Leonard J. Mazzarisi III, 32, formerly of Holmdel, was found guilty on July 30 of second degree aggravated arson, second degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and third degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Aug. 19, 2017, Holmdel police officers responded to a report of a possible arson at 51 Main St., Holmdel, the site of the Neuhaus Realty Agency. Evidence collected at the scene suggested a fire that damaged a portion of the rear of the building was purposefully set, according to the press release.
A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Holmdel Police Department determined the fire was purposefully set by a male who was seen on video surveillance cameras from Aug. 17, 2017.
On Jan. 27, 2018 at about 10:18 p.m., Holmdel police officers responded to a second fire at the same Main Street location. The officers discovered heavy smoke and fire emanating from the rear of the structure.
Firefighters from the Holmdel Fire Department responded to the scene, but the structure sustained extensive damage.
An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Holmdel Police Department and the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office determined the Jan. 27 fire to also be an act of arson, closely resembling the August 2017 fire, according to the press release.
On May 29, 2018, Holmdel police officers were dispatched to 4 South Holmdel Road, Holmdel, to investigate a report of a BB gun being fired into a building. The address is the newest location for Neuhaus Realty, which had been forced to relocate as a result of the Jan. 27 fire damage at 51 Main St.
Detectives from the Holmdel Police Department reviewed additional surveillance video to determine Mazzarisi was responsible for firing the BB gun into the window of the building, and that he was driving a vehicle that matched the vehicle seen in the video at the January 2018 arson at the former Neuhaus Realty location, according to the press release.
The following day, May 30, 2018, Mazzarisi was located at a hotel in Fredericksburg,
Va., where he was arrested on outstanding warrants stemming from the Holmdel investigation.
Mazzarisi was held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, Va., until he was extradited back to New Jersey on June 12, 2018 to face the charges.
Linskey commended the efforts of the Holmdel Police Department and law enforcement agencies from Vermont, New York and Virginia for their work leading up to the
conviction, according to the press release.
Mazzarisi is scheduled to return for sentencing before Superior Court Judge Lourdes Lucas on Oct. 8. He faces up to 20 years in New Jersey state prison on the charges, according to the press release.