LAKEWOOD
- Police have arrested a man they believe stalked a woman for three
years and installed a video camera in her shower - in part because the
woman herself fought back with surveillance videos of her own.
Jacob
A. Farkas, 42, of Lakewood is facing three counts of burglary and
charges of stalking and invasion of privacy after his arrest Tuesday,
according to township police and records from the Ocean County Jail in
Toms River, where Farkas was still locked up Wednesday.
Shortly
before noon Tuesday, members of the Lakewood Civilian Safety Watch
(LCSW) contacted police about "a possible burglary in progress,"
according to a prepared statement from police Lt. LeRoy Marshall. Police
went to a Pawnee Road home where they found and arrested Farkas
"without incident."
Police
surmised that Farkas "had been stalking the female victim for
approximately 3 years,"
Marshall wrote. "On three separate occasions,
Farkas illegally entered the victim's residence."
Police
believe Farkas entered the woman's home on Monday "and installed a
small camera in her bathroom facing the the shower," Marshall wrote
Tuesday. "The victim located the video recording device which prompted
her to install surveillance cameras in the home last night."
On
Tuesday morning the woman was watching a live feed from her own cameras
"when she observed Farkas burglarize her residence once again,"
Marshall wrote. "She alerted her husband and the LCSW who in turn
contacted the police."
Police Detective Michael P.
Cavallo led the investigation with help from officers Jason R. Yahr and
Kevin M. Bell, Marshall said. The High Tech Crimes Unit from the Ocean
County Prosecutor's Office and crime scene investigators from the Ocean
County Sheriff's Office also worked on the investigation.
"Special thanks to LCSW for their prompt notification to the Police Department," Marshall wrote.