By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — An evening that appeared to bring with it dreams of a windfall reward ended up with a South Street resident losing $500 at gunpoint.
According to Freehold Borough police Lt. Phil Ecks, the robbery occurred on July 29 at 6:17 p.m. in the parking lot of the St. Rose of Lima School, South Street.
Ecks explained what he called a flimflam operation. He said the victim, a 19-year-old Hispanic male, was approached at Route 537 and Route 9 by two men who claimed to have a winning lottery ticket. The men told the victim that they needed help to cash the ticket because of their citizenship status in this country, Ecks said.
"[They told him that] if he would help them cash the ticket, they would give him $10,000 in return for his assistance," he added.
Ecks said the two subjects then requested $500 in cash from the victim as "good faith" money until the ticket was cashed.
Ecks said the victim got into the car with the two men and took them to his home so he could get the $500. According to the police report, the men then waited in the school parking lot for the victim to return with their "good faith" money.
When he arrived at the parking lot with the $500, he was told by the men that they needed more money at that time. Ecks said the young victim then tried to bail out of the deal, at which point one of the men "pulled a handgun on the victim, took the money ($500) and took off."
Ecks described the two suspects as follows: a Hispanic male who appeared to be about 23 years old, with short black hair, a thin build and a flower tattoo on his left upper arm. The second man, also Hispanic, was described as being about 36 years old with short black hair and a medium build.
According to Ecks, they were driving an older model four-door vehicle. He said the victim was not sure if the car was registered in New Jersey.