WOODBURY — Two Staten Island, N.Y. men will have their bail stay at $35,000 for charges they stole a federal agency’s car in New York and torched it in Deptford.
Richard F. Boyce, 18, and Jonathan A. Moe, 23, allegedly stole a car owned by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, then drove it into a wooded area off the New Jersey Turnpike in Deptford on Oct. 4, authorities said.
They were arrested near the car and both allegedly acknowledged their involvement in the theft and fire, said authorities. Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Alec Gutierrez said in court there was evidence the car had also been driven to Maryland.
Gutierrez said the arson was an obvious danger to firefighters called to put out the fire.
The attempt to burn the car was “in order to destroy evidence,” said Gutierrez.
Moe was only “present during the crime” and that the person “more on the hook” for the theft and arson is Boyce, said Moe’s lawyer. Moe can make only minimal bail, the attorney said.
Both Moe and Boyce were charged with arson, theft, criminal mischief and tampering with evidence.
Gutierrez said Moe has an out-of-state criminal history that is “very concerning.”
No reduction of bail was approved.