Credit: Middletown Township police
A Middletown Township man was charged last week with damaging the soccer fields used by the Hulmeville Soccer Club.
The fields at Herbert Hoover Elementary School on Trenton Road in Middletown Township were turfed on October 4 between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The fields received “severe damage” to the grass, sprinkler system, and signage. The damage totaled more than $5,700, police said.
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Following the incident, police released images of a Toyota pickup truck and dirt bike that were involved and quickly began receiving tips.
After the images were released, officers were dispatched to the area of Access and Zimmerman roads for a tip that the suspect vehicle was there. An additional tip came in with similar information.
Officers spotted the Toyota Tacoma that matched the one in the images and talked with the vehicle owner, Josef Szentjobi, 23. He admitted to he driving the vehicle on the soccer fields but told a story that did not match evidence investigators had, police said.
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“I observed additional video and photographic evidence that shows the vehicle engaging in criminal acts, turfing the Hulmeville Soccer Club Fields and driving on Herbert Hoover School property. The vehicle was seen accelerating heavily and doing donuts on the property on multiple occasions,” an officer wrote in court papers.
Szentjobi was charged last Thursday with criminal mischief, institutional vandalism, careless driving, and trespass by motor vehicle. He was arraigned by District Judge Daniel Baranoski and released of $5,000 unsecured bail.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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