On December 17th at 3:46pm the Barnegat Police Department received several calls of a female subject standing in the middle of Schooner Avenue waving a rifle. Multiple officers responded to the scene where they found Amanda Ponzio, 35, of Barnegat engaged in an argument with a group of juveniles. Ponzio was immediately taken into custody without incident. Officers recovered a Remington 597 rifle from the scene. The initial investigation revealed that Ponzio had become engaged in a verbal dispute with a group of area juveniles when she entered her Schooner Avenue home and returned with the rifle which she then used to threaten the juveniles.
Ponzio was charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (2nd degree), unlawful possession of a rifle (3rd degree), endangering the welfare of a child (4th degree), and three counts of terroristic threats (3rd degree). She was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in default of $175,000 bail.
The Barnegat Police Department would like to thank the concerned residents who called and provided relevant and timely information which was relayed to responding officers and aided in the successful and safe resolution of the incident.
