Prosecutor: Man Who Torched Lakewood Home With 3 People Inside Charged with Attempted Murder

U.S. Marshals captured Jamal Preston, 25, of Egg Harbor Township on Monday and turned him over to local authorities to be charged with four counts of aggravated arson in the Aug. 22 fire on Park Place, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Monday.

The occupants got out safely after the 2:30 a.m. blaze spread to the second floor and attic, responders said at the time.

Billhimer said his Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad investigated along with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigation Unit, the Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office a New Jersey Fire Marshal’s K-9 Unit.

They found that the fire “had been intentionally set [by Preston] utilizing an ignitable liquid and an open flame,” the prosecutor said.

Preston remained held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Billhimer thanked the primary units who collaborated on the investigation, as well as several agencies that he said contributed -- among them, his High Tech Crime Unit and police from Lakewood, Egg Harbor, Berkeley and South Toms River.

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