N.J. Man Admits Torching Ex-Girlfriend’s Car

ENGLISHTOWN — A Manalapan man who admitted to setting his ex-girlfriend’s car on fire Saturday has been freed on $40,000 bail after being charged with arson, harassment, criminal mischief, and obstruction, according to police.

Martin Hroncich, 23, who initially denied any involvement in the incident in Englishtown and was told not to contact the vehicle’s owner, ex-girlfriend Ashley
Schwartz, 21, also of Manalapan, admitted the arson upon questioning, Sgt. Pete Cook said.

Police were called at 5 a.m. Saturday to 2 Park Ave., where they found a 2006 Chevy Cobalt engulfed in flames, Cook said. Patrolman Alex Dinicola was the first to arrive at the scene, and called the Englishtown Fire Department to extinguish the blaze.

Schwartz was at her current boyfriend’s home at the time of the fire. She received an anonymous text message at 6:30 p.m. stating, ‘Ha, you know what’s funny is that three quarters of the interior of your car is melted.’ She replied by text, ‘Who is this?’ She was answered by another anonymous text stating, ‘Who’s this? The person responsible for putting your car on fire.’

After receiving the texts, Schwartz went to the police station at 7 p.m.
Dinicola and Cpl. Michael MacInnes contacted the phone company to discover the texts were sent from a display phone at the Freehold Raceway Mall’s Apple store.

Oon further investigation by Dinicola and MacInnes, they discovered Hroncich used the phone for the anonymous texts and had left a recorded video of himself using the phone. Schwartz identified the man as her ex-boyfriend from two years ago.

Police recovered a gas container from a sewer in Manalapan, which they believe Hroncich used to set the car on fire.

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