A 24-year-old Red Bank man has been arrested and charged with the alleged setting of three fires in Red Bank and robbing a pharmacy in Little Silver on Monday, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Thursday.

The man, Anthony Sambogna, has been charged with second-degree robbery and three counts of second-degree aggravated arson in connection with the Monday incidents which all occurred within 12 hours. .  

The first of the three arson incidents transpired at about 12:25 p.m. on Monday, July 25, when an accelerant was used to start a small fire in the parking lot of Red Bank Catholic High School, Broad Street, The fire went out on its own prior to the arrival of police officers just minutes later.

Later that same day, at roughly 11:20 p.m., an accelerant was used to start a second fire along exterior natural gas meter lines leading into the back of a bagel shop, also on Broad Street.

That fire also went out on its own after initially going unreported, but a second fire ignited on shrubbery at the same location a little more than an hour later. It was put out by a responding police officer using a fire extinguisher.

An investigation involving members of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Red Bank Police Department led to Sambogna being identified as a suspect in the incidents.

He was arrested without incident on Branch Avenue in Little Silver early Tuesday afternoon.

Sambogna was then held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending a detention hearing to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.

The investigation also revealed that Sambogna had allegedly robbed a pharmacy on Prospect Avenue in Little Silver at approximately 5:25 p.m. the day before his arrest, threatening a clerk while demanding that he empty the contents of a cash register.

In light of the repetitive nature of these offenses, anyone with information about these or similar incidents is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Aaron Shaw at 800-533-7443 or Red Bank Police Department Sgt. James Deponte at 732-530-2700. The two images of the defendant include a driver’s license photo and a more recent photo.

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

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