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Michael Vulpis faces five years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, per the terms of his plea agreement, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.
On Thursday, June 27 at 12:20 a.m., officers in Jackson Township responded to Larsen Road and found a 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the face, Billhimer said. He was transported transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was treated and subsequently released.
The victim and a woman were sitting in a parked vehicle outside a residence when a blue sedan parked in front of their vehicle, blocking them in, Billhimer said. Vulpis and Noah Phelps, a 24-year-old Monroe Township resident, knocked on the window and as the victim exited, he was assaulted and then shot in the face, Billhimer said.
Vulps and Phelps were arrested following the attack, Billhimer said. Further investigation revealed Glenn Franzson, a 32-year-old Jackson Township resident, conspired with Vulpis to contact the victim after the shooting, to have him provide a false statement to law enforcement in reference to the investigation. As a result, Franzson was charged with witness tampering and conspiracy to commit witness taampering.
The charges against Phelps and Franzson remain pending.
“The State is required to prove each and every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt," Billhimer said. "Where, as in this case, the victim of a crime remains uncooperative with the prosecution’s efforts, it makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the State to satisfy its legal burden of proof. As such, the State reluctantly entered into this negotiated resolution - in the absence of victim cooperation - so that some level of justice might nevertheless be accomplished."
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