Inmates break jaw of suspect in beating deaths of zoo birds
Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/30/03
By NICHOLAS CLUNN
STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER -- One of the 18-year-olds accused of bludgeoning to death eight birds at a Lacey zoo sustained a broken jaw, a fractured nose and other facial injuries after he was assaulted by fellow inmates at the Ocean County Jail.
Authorities from the jail and other county departments are investigating the assault, which Jail Warden Theodore J. Hutler Jr. said was not unusual.
"There is a possibility he could be assaulted again," Hutler said. "This is jail, and it goes with the turf."
In an interview at the jail yesterday, Matthew Ronneberg said the assault lasted at least a minute before jail officers came to rescue him from his three male attackers, all in their late teens or early 20s.
"One hit me, and I dropped on my bed," said Ronneberg, 18.
There are about six assaults in the jail each year, Hutler said.
Ronneberg lost a tooth in his lower jaw and needed stitches to close a wound on his face. A deep blue bruise sagged below his left eye.
The time it took officers to respond to Ronneberg is normal, since there are several security doors that separate officers from inmates, Hutler said.
Ronneberg was assaulted in his cell on Friday after his attackers came in through his unlocked door. Many inmates have access to a day room during certain periods, and their cells are unlocked so they can go there.
Since the attack, the jail has relocated Ronneberg to a medical wing. Ronneberg said he expects to stay there for about six weeks. According to the jail's rules, Ronneberg will be returned to the general population after a doctor's approval.
Ronneberg, Thomas Cavanaugh of the Forked River section of Lacey and Matthew Mercuro of Waretown, all 18, were arrested May 21 and accused of entering Popcorn Park Zoo and bludgeoning to death three ducks, three emus and two rheas with a rake, a piece of PVC pipe and a shovel.
Cavanaugh and Mercuro also were at the Ocean County Jail last night. All three are being held with a bail set at $114,000 each.
Each was charged with eight counts of killing an animal and single counts of burglary, criminal trespass of a research facility and criminal mischief.
The teens had been joy-riding in a car owned by Mercuro's family when they entered the grounds of the zoo.
Additionally, in Manchester, the three have been charged with setting fire to a woodshed and a golf cart, spray-painting swastikas on a paint-ball business and shattering windows at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church.
They also were charged in the killing of a domestic goose at Wells Mills County Park in Waretown. All of the crimes occurred late Sunday or early Monday, the same night as the bird killings.
Nicholas Clunn: (609) 978-4597, or at
nclunn@app.com
