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Jorge Euxaque-Ballesteros pleaded guilty on Friday, March 31, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
On Jan. 19, 2022, at approximately 2 a.m., Lakewood Township police and firefighters were dispatched to a business on Cross Street in reference to a sprinkler system alarm. Firefighters were able to extinguish a fire in the basement of the business.
Investigators determined that the cause of the fire was incendiary by an unknown person using an open flame to ignite cardboard and paper in the basement. Subsequent investigation revealed that Euxaque-Ballesteros — a former employee of the business who was recently terminated — was responsible for setting the fire, Billhimer said.
Later in the day, Euxaque-Ballesteros was taken into custody in Toms River. He has been held in Ocean County jail since that arrest.
Separately, Euxaque-Ballesteros admitted to trying to steal a bicycle, also in Lakewood, in April 2021.
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