Police seek Lakewood resident, 19, in robbery
Howell detective says suspect may have left New Jersey
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

HOWELL - Police have issued an arrest warrant for a Lakewood man who they believe robbed a Howell jewelry story in February. The suspect remains at large.

Howell police Detective Eileen Dodd said Reich Jewelers, on Route 9 south in the Grebow shopping center, was robbed on Feb. 17 by a man wielding a shotgun who took all of the jewelry from the display cases.

Dodd said an arrest warrant has been issued for Avraham Rotenberg, 19, whose last known address was on Birch Street, Lakewood. Dodd said Rotenberg's family members have said they do not know where the young man is at the present time.

"I do not believe he is in New Jersey," Dodd said, adding that federal marshals and FBI agents are working to assist in Rotenberg's apprehension.

Rotenberg is charged with armed robbery, theft and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Dodd said a shotgun was used in the jewelry store robbery but police do not know to whom the weapon belongs.

"A shotgun is not that easily traced," the detective said.

The case took a bizarre turn on March 6, according to Dodd, when Lakewood RabbiMichael Rottenberg, who is no relation to Avraham Rotenberg, received a telephone call from an individual he told police he could not identify.

When the call was completed, the rabbi became aware there were items left outside his home. Dodd said the rabbi was afraid to go outside the house to check what was outside, so he called Lakewood police.

Dodd said officers responded to the rabbi's home and then called Howell police to inform the department that some of the jewelry that had been stolen from Reich Jewelers during the robbery had been left outside the rabbi's house.

According to Dodd, Avraham Rotenberg is a member of Lakewood's Hasidic Jewish community, as is the owner of Reich Jewelers. She said the suspect in the armed robbery knew the owners and had been in the store at times previous to the Feb. 17 robbery, which occurred at about 11:30 a.m.

According to Dodd, there were two employees and two customers in the store when the robbery occurred and the suspect kept the shotgun pointed at the employees while forcing them to fill two duffel bags with the jewelry that was in the display cases and a safe.

Dodd said Rotenberg fled from the scene of the crime in a 2004 Acura TSX that had New York license plates which one of the customers in the store was able to record.

Dodd said the getaway car was found the next day by Lakewood police, abandoned on Miller Road in Lakewood.

According to Dodd, Avraham Rotenberg is about 6 feet, 2 inches tall with a medium build, weighing between 190 and 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Before the robbery, Rotenberg worked at odd jobs, having no steady employment. He is the middle child of 10 siblings.

Dodd said once an indictment has been handed down from the grand jury, something she expects to occur in about two weeks, Rotenberg's name will be entered into a national wanted persons data base. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Howell Detective Eileen Dodd at (732) 938-4575, ext. 2883.