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Jamal Preston of Egg Harbor Township was sentenced as a result of a previously entered guilty plea to aggravated arson, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
The sentencing was on Friday, June 3 and included a weapons charge.
On August 20, 2020, Preston was involved in an altercation with another individual in the Manitou Park section of Berkeley Township. When Officers from the Berkeley Township Police Department responded to the scene, Preston was found to be in possession of a knife. He was taken into custody, charged on a summons, and released pending a future court date.
On August 22, 2020, Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to a report of a fire at a residence in Lakewood. An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s K-9 Unit, determined that the fire had been intentionally set utilizing an ignitable liquid and an open flame, Billhimer said.
Further investigation determined that Preston intentionally set the fire while the residence was occupied by three individuals, Billhimer said. Preston allegedly fled the scene, but was arrested at a motel in Absecon by the United States Marshals Service on August 31, 2020, the prosecutor said.
He has been held in the Ocean County Jail since the date of his apprehension.
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