Police in Lakewood are investigating a violent home invasion that left two people hurt.
A 911 call came in around 2:30AM reporting a robbery in progress at a home on Eagle Ridge Circle in Lakewood.
Responding officers found a male resident injured in the garage, and upon entering the home, discovered a female resident also injured.
Lakewood Police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith says the suspect is believed to have fled prior to the arrival of police.
Both victims were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for further evaluation and treatment, he said.
The circumstances of the incident and the injuries and conditions of the victims have not been released.
The Lakewood Scoop, which first reported the incident, reported the couple was bound with duct tape and beaten with a flashlight, and their car stolen, citing unidentified officials.
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A man beaten in his home at an age-restricted golf community in Lakewood was the leader of a residents group vehemently opposing a controversial proposed large-scale development.
Frederick “Rob” Robison, 66, and his wife, Patty, 64, were attacked in their home in the 350-home Fairways at Lake Ridge early Wednesday morning, said Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
“It was a pretty vicious attack,” said Della Fave.
The couple is in critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
According to multiple sources, including neighbors, the couple were awakened by noises in their garage about 3 a.m. and the lights in the home went out. When Robison went to investigate, he was hit in the head with a blunt object.
His wife was then attacked in the home, and both were bound with duct tape. The couple’s car was stolen but found a few blocks away.
One source said Robison reported several incidents of trespassing on his property to Lakewood police in the past few weeks.
The Fairways at Lake Ridge is a gated community of circuitous roads. The home of the beaten couple is in the middle of the complex, not near the entrance.
It’s unclear if the man’s opposition had any role in the crime.
“We’re investigating,” Della Fave said. “We don’t know a whole lot right now.”
Robison was leading the opposition to a proposed development of 517 town houses with 517 basement apartments, for a total of 1,034 residential units on what is today the Eagle Ridge golf course adjacent to the Lake Ridge complex.
The development plan includes almost 70,000 square feet of retail space encompassing two buildings, five community centers and a clubhouse.
The Fairways sued to stop the development, saying that the zoning and township committees changed the town master plan to favor the golf course developer, GDMS Holdings LLC.
Robison “was the tip of spear” in the fight against the development, Tom Gatti, the founder and president of the Lakewood’s Senior Action Group, said Wednesday afternoon. “He was orchestrating all the legal work because he had a background in that sort of thing.”
Robison had been the administrator of several New Jersey towns before retiring.
One source involved in the lawsuit said Robison had zeroed in on alleged conflicts of interest involving Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, who owns a property management company called MSL Management and Development Corp.
The lawsuit claimed the ordinances and master plan should be invalidated for several statutory land use violations because Lichtenstein benefits from Lakewood growth, and alleges he has business ties to the GDMS group.
The golf course plan was rejected by the state Department of Environmental Protection last August, eight months after the property was bought by GDMS Holdings LLC for $9.5 million. Within weeks, GDMS had a plan for 1,872 residences and the retail space and clubhouse – and five acres of parking lots.
Led by Robison, the Fairways homeowners hired an attorney, and water quality and wildlife experts to fight the plan.
The state Department of Environmental Protection rejected the plan, but developers asked for an administrative settlement hearing, which, under New Jersey law, included testimony and briefs between just the state and the developer. The Fairways residents were excluded from the hearing, and the state approved a scaled-down project.
In a previous story about the development, Robison said the scaled-down version put a small city next to their development – and on a golf course that was marketed to the Fairways residents as a perk of their purchase. Many residents paid premiums as high as $75,000 to live course-side. Streets and home models, called “The Masters Collection,” are named after famous courses.
A source involved in the lawsuit said Fairways residents were ready to file a consumer fraud lawsuit against the original developers, the Koke family, saying they marketed golf-course living up until the sale of the property last year.
Robison and others from his group met with Max Sternstein, one of the golf course owners, in recent days. According to the source, who was present at the meeting, the sides did not come to any agreement