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Rhonj Star Dina Manzo's Ex-Husband Indicted In Baseball Bat Home Invasion

The ex-husband of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member Dina Manzo was among two men indicted in the baseball bat home invasion of her Holmdel townhouse in 2017, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.

Dina (Manzo) Cantin

Dina (Manzo) Cantin

Photo Credit: Dina Cantin Instagram photo

A new indictment handed up by a Monmouth County grand jury names Thomas Manzo, of Franklin Lakes, as an accomplice to James Mainello, of Bayonne.

Manzo, 56, was not previously charged in the May 13, 2017 attack in which Dina Manzo's current husband was tied up and beaten with a baseball bat at her Banyan Boulevard townhouse.

Manzo surrendered without incident and was being held in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township pending his First Appearance in the Monmouth County Superior Court, authorities said.

A detention hearing is expected to be scheduled following his initial appearance to determine if he will be released or detained pending trial. 

Manzo is charged with fourth-degree stalking, while he and 53-year-old Mainello were both charged with aggravated assault, criminal restraint, robbery, burglary and a weapons offense.

Holmdel police were called to Manzo's Banyan Boulevard home around 10:55 p.m. on May 13, 2017, after someone called 911 reporting a home invasion robbery.

There, they found two victims who had freed themselves from zip-ties after having been assaulted multiple times with a baseball bat and robbed of Dina Manzo's new engagement ring, along with $500 in cash, the MCPO said.

Initial investigation led to the arrest of Mainello in May 2019. The ongoing four-year investigation ultimately uncovered Manzo’s role in stalking both victims and his motivations for the robbery and assault carried out by Mainello and another assailant, who remains at large, authorities said.

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