PLUMSTED — A 21-year-old township man faces arson, burglary and assault charges following a garage fire that injured a firefighter, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
Matthew Waldman was charged Oct. 11 with aggravated arson, arson, two counts of burglary and aggravated assault on a firefighter in connection with the Oct. 10 blaze.
Police and firefighters responded around 4:30 p.m. to an abandoned home on Maple Avenue, where they found a detached garage behind the residence engulfed in flames.
A firefighter injured her hand while battling the blaze. She was taken to Capital Health at Deborah in Browns Mills, treated and released.
Investigators allege Waldman had been staying in the abandoned residence without permission and started the fire in the nearby garage.
Waldman was arrested without incident at Plumsted Township Police Headquarters and taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he remained pending a detention hearing.
The investigation involved the prosecutor’s arson squad, township police detectives, the county fire marshal’s office and the sheriff’s crime scene investigation unit.
The charges are accusations. Waldman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
