Police Charge North Cape Man with Burglary, Mischief

NORTH CAPE MAY — On Wed., Sept. 29 at approximately 5:20 p.m., Lower Township police received a 9-1-1 call from an off duty county Sheriff’s Department officer, reporting a possible burglary in progress at a home in the 800 Block of Washington Boulevard.
Lower Township Patrol Officers immediately responded to the scene and spoke with the reporting party, Officer William Weatherby, Jr. who was able to give a detailed description of a suspect who he saw attempting to kick in the garage door of a vacant home.
According to police, the suspect, described as a white male in his early 20’s, wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with a crew cut, fled the area on a bicycle before police arrival.
When officers checked the residence they found that an air conditioner had been removed from a window and the window glass had then been broken in order to gain entry into the home.
Officers entered the home and observed fresh blood on the floor of the residence and noted that several rooms had been ransacked, causing significant damage to several items in the residence.
A short time later, Lower Township Detective Michael Majane, observed a subject in the parking lot of the Citgo Gas Station in North Cape May, matching the description of the burglary suspect.
Majane was backed up at the gas station by Patrol Officer Matthew Dickinson, who observed that the subject was bleeding from a laceration on his hand.
The subject identified as Leaming B. Johnston, 25, of the 900 Block of Holmes Avenue in North Cape May, was subsequently arrested for Burglary and Criminal Mischief after being positively identified by Sheriff’s Department Officer Weatherby.
Johnston was processed at the Lower Township Police Department and lodged in the Cape May County Jail in default of bail.
The incident is under investigation by Patrol Officer Matthew Dickinson and Detective Michael Majane.