Feces Smeared on Car: New Details in Mount Laurel, NJ, Man’s Case

MOUNT LAUREL — A 15-count indictment returned by a grand jury against a township resident arrested last summer revealed the degree to which the man allegedly harassed and intimidated his neighbors.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday that a search of Edward C. Mathews' home, following the 46-year-old's arrest stemming from an incident last July 2, yielded a slingshot and ball bearings which matched projectiles aimed at multiple damaged vehicles in Mathews' neighborhood, as well as hallucinogenic, psilocin mushrooms.

Damage done by the ball bearings was estimated at $2,350. The Mount Laurel Police Department had obtained a warrant authorizing a search of Mathews' home after a neighbor reported her suspicion that a BB gun had been used to target cars belonging to her and her daughter.

Additional FBI analysis of Mathews' handwriting tied him to a threatening note left on a neighbor's vehicle on which feces had also been smeared, according to the BCPO release.

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Mathews was originally charged after police responded on July 2, 2021, to residents' complaints that he was using racial slurs toward them. He was later taken into custody and is currently lodged at the Burlington County Jail.

The indictment returned last Friday charges Mathews with second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, two counts of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, one count each of fourth-degree stalking and criminal mischief, four counts of fourth-degree bias intimidation, and three counts of fourth-degree certain persons not to have weapons.

An exact date for Mathews' arraignment was not announced by the prosecutor's office Tuesday.