Prosecutor: Fugitive in Long Branch Shooting Caught

After a 10-day manhunt, officers from the U.S. Marshals Service and Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office arrested the fugitive who had been wanted in connection with a shooting in Long Branch earlier in the month, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

Donovan L. Wesley, 25, of Brick Township, was apprehended in Asbury Park on Oct. 18.

The case background … 

On Sunday, Oct. 8, at approximately 1:50 a.m., the Long Branch Police Department responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting a shooting inside a West Columbus Place residence in the city.

The victim, a 30-year-old male, was taken to a local hospital as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. He is currently on the road to recovery at home.

As a result of a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department, Wesley was charged with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree armed burglary, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is urged to call Detective Adam Hess, of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 800-533-7443 or Long Branch Police Detective Todd Coleman at 732-222-1000.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office