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Thomas Lester, 20, of Tuckerton, and Ethan Salter, 19, of Little Egg Harbor Township, broke into a National Union Boulevard home on Jan. 8 around 2:15 p.m., then started a fire in the living room, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said on Friday, March 8.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and about two months later, Lester and Salter were each arrested at their homes and charged with aggravated arson, arson, burglary, criminal mischief and conspiracy.
"The cause of the fire was determined to be incendiary by an unknown person or persons utilizing an open flame to available combustibles," he said.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, and Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department Detective Bureau revealed that Lester and Salter were the individuals responsible for setting the fire, he said.
The men were taken to the Ocean County Jail, where they remain pending a detention hearing.
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