Toms River man admits to arson and smashing a car window

BRICK — A man is facing three years in prison after he confessed to setting a township house on fire and smashing a car window in Lacey the following day.

Charles Maulbeck, 51, of Toms River, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated arson and criminal mischief, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

On Sept. 13, Maulbeck started the fire in the basement of a home on the 900 block of Falkenberg Road, according to authorities.

Nobody was home at the time but three firefighters were injured as they battled the flames.

The next day, on Stuyvesant Street in Lacey, he shattered the rear window of a parked car with a rock, prosecutors said. Maulbeck was soon arrested.

He was being held Tuesday in Ocean County Jail pending his July 25 sentencing, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors did not reveal a motive for either crime.

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