Police are searching from the ground and the air for a suspect in a drug investigation who fled Toms River police Tuesday, then may have called in a false gun threat to the Ocean County Mall to divert police attention.
The suspect is believed to be Jeffrey Livingston, 22, of Edinburgh Lane in Manchester Township. He ran from the offices into a nearby wood area near the corner of Whittier Avenue and Washington Street after jumping out of a vehicle in which he was a passenger, said Toms River Police spokesman Ralph Stocco.
While officers were searching for the suspect, a gun threat was called into the Ocean County Mall in an attempt to divert the search efforts, Stocco said. It is believed by police that Livingston placed that call from his cell phone.
Livingston is described as a black male wearing a black tee shirt and black shorts. He is 6’ 4” 180 pounds.
The police department is being assisted by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit and the New Jersey State Police Aviation unit.