Man Charged with Concocting Report of Theft Outside Walgreen's

A man living temporarily at a hotel in Point Pleasant Beach was charged Monday with a disorderly person's offense of making a false report to law enforcement authorities, Point Pleasant Borough police said.

Larry F. Space, 52, who was displaced from his Toms River home by Superstorm Sandy, and has been living at the Point Pleasant Manor, Point Pleasant Beach, was charged on Monday after allegedly concocting a story about two women stealing his medication outside Walgreen's, Route 35, said Captain Richard Larsen.

Police were called to the scene at 9:16 a.m. with a report that two women in an older, primer (dull finish) black Mustang had stolen medication from Space.

In a post that circulated on Facebook, the Ocean County Sheriff 911 Facebook page reported: "Strong arm robbery just occurred at the Walgreens in Pt. Boro. Two w/f left in a older style mustang, black primer color. Both women are between the ages of 18/24. Vehicle last seen headed west in Route 88 in Pt. Boro. No weapons shown."

Point Borough police had asked the county, as per standard operating procedure, to alert all police departments that this had allegedly occurred so officers could be on the look-out for the suspect car or any other relevant information, Larsen said.

"Initially, we didn't know it was false, it was only through investigation that we learned it was false," said Larsen, who was one of the officers who responded to the scene. He added that he had not known at the time that the county would post the information on Facebook.

Space's original story was that he was standing outside Walgreen's, Route 35 South, on the eastern end of Point Pleasant Borough, and had placed some medications in a bag on top of a trash pail in front of the door and, while smoking a cigarette, a black primer Mustang pulled up and a female passenger got out of the car and stole the medications from on top of the pail, Larsen said.

Then, Space had told police, the woman got back in the passenger seat of the car and the driver headed onto Route 35 South and around the bend onto Route 88 west, Larsen said.

"He was trying to secure additional medications using the police report as a mechanism to do so," Larsen said.

Space was released on a complaint summons, there was no bail and he will either plead guilty or have to appear in municipal court, Larsen said.

Officer Chris Voit gathered preliminary information, assisted by Detective Michelle Hill. The investigation is continuing and additional charges may be filed, Larsen said.