Heroin Deal Foiled Near School, Say Barnegat Police

Two Barnegat men face serious drug charges in the township, accused of making a heroin deal near an elementary school.

Police filed multiple charges against Joseph Barton, 49, and Michael Euston, 34, on January 31.

According to authorities, officers patrolling neaer Lillian M. Dunfee School watched the hand-to-hand transaction at about 4:30 that afternoon. Barton was snared as he began leaving the spot by bicycle.

Police say Euston ignored orders to halt and took an officer on a chase that ended behind a Bilge Avenue house.

Barton was released on a third-degree heroin-possession charge. Euston faces five separate charges related to heroin possession, distribution and proximity to a school zone, all third-degree, with a fourth-degree charge of resisting arrest. He was sent to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River in default of $77,500 bail.