A 69-year-old Ocean County man has been arrested and charged with the September arson of a group of commercial vehicles belonging to a local business in Wall Township, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.

Harcourt “Paul” S. Ward, 69, of Toms River, has been charged with four counts of second-degree arson in connection with a fire that was responsible for the destruction of six vehicles.

The case background …

On Monday night, Sept. 26, at 10:11 p.m., the Wall Township Police Department received a call about a fire at the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue. Upon arrival at the scene, police and Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office authorities found six total vehicles on fire.

An investigation revealed that Ward, of Ward Realty and Insurance in Point Pleasant, was the person allegedly responsible for purposely setting the vehicles ablaze. The estimated value of the damage caused by the fire was more than $1 million.

Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Joshua Rios at 800-533-7443 or Wall Township Police Detective Zach Honecker at 732-449-4500.

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

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