Four people have been charged with hindering the apprehension of Douglas Cobb, who is wanted in connection with the murder of a Toms River man last week, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
Ronald Hagan, 50, of Brick Township, Sylvester Green, 43, of Bayville, Cherice Nicholson, 46, of Howell, and Jennifer Rizalvo, 48, of Lakewood, were each charged with Hindering the Apprehension of Another.
The charges stem from the investigation into the whereabouts of Cobb, 51, of Toms River, who is charged with the September 18 murder of Bruce Gress, 42, of Toms River.
Detectives determined that Hagan, Green, Nicholson and Rizalvo each assisted Cobb in avoiding apprehension and/or provided false information to law enforcement.
Hagan remains a fugitive from justice. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, and his name has been entered into the National Crime Information Center database.
Green and Nicholson were taken into custody on September 24 and transported to the Ocean County Jail, where they remain lodged pending detention hearings.
Rizalvo was served with the charge via summons and is expected to appear in Ocean County Superior Court.
“We are working round-the-clock to apprehend Cobb so that he may be brought to justice for the killing of Bruce Gress,” Prosecutor Billhimer said.
The photograph released by the Prosecutor’s Office shows Cobb from body-worn camera footage recorded in June.
Obviously, if someone knowingly helps a murder suspect evade the police, that is extremely serious.
But one thing here is interesting: Green and Nicholson were taken into custody and are being held pending detention hearings, while Rizalvo was simply served with a summons. Presumably there are facts or differences in the allegations that explain this, but the article doesn’t tell us what they are.
Also worth remembering that these people have been charged, not convicted. We have no idea from this article exactly what each person allegedly did or what information they supposedly provided.
Hopefully Cobb is apprehended quickly, and then let the evidence — not the comment section — determine everybody else’s guilt.
Why were two of them jailed while another person charged with the same offense was simply issued a summons?