An Ocean County grand jury has charged two men with committing burglaries at businesses in Lakewood earlier this year. The grand jury on Tuesday handed up an indictment charging Markquett Stevenson, 20, of East Fifth Street, Lakewood, and Thomas Walker,? with six counts each of burglary and four counts each of theft.

The incidents began overnight from Jan. 30 to Jan. 31, when the Farm Fresh Market on Squankum Road was burglarized, and cash and checks totaling more than $500 were stolen.

The indictment alleges the pair next burglarized Falafel ‘n Chips on Fifth Street overnight from Feb. 25 to Feb. 26, and broke into Lakewood Beepers on Second Street on March 14 and stole numerous cellular phones valued at more than $500.

It alleges that the pair struck again overnight from March 15 to March 16 at the Stop & Shop on East Kennedy Boulevard, and at My Store on East Fourth Street sometime between March 15 and March 17. The indictment alleges the pair stole cash, phone cards and food from My Store.

The indictment said Stevenson, acting alone, stole a woman’s purse in Lakewood on Feb. 25, burglarized Tiferes Shimon Congregation on Park Avenue between March 18 and March 19, burglarized the Corner of Second Street Supermarket on Second Street between March 17 and March 19, and broke into the Lakewood Laundromat on Main Street between March 19 and March 20.

The indictment charged Stevenson with stealing more than $500 in cash from both the Corner of Second Street Supermarket and the laundromat.

The final burglary in the indictment occurred on March 20 at the Food-Ex Supermarket on Princeton Avenue. The indictment alleged both men broke into the store and stole more than $500 in cash.

Stevenson was arrested inside the closed grocery store that day after an alarm sounded, and police responded, police said. Police found Stevenson inside a locked back room, they said. In his possession were $2,000 and numerous personal checks believed to have come from the store, police said.

Each of the crimes that Stevenson and Walker are charged with carry maximum, five-year prison terms upon convictions.

APP