Full Notification

POSSESSION OF A WEAPON / AGGRAVATED ASSAULT ARREST
Maple Shade, NJ
January 25, 2023
For Immediate Release
 
 
     On this date at 12:10 AM officers with the Maple Shade Police Department were dispatched to the Woods Edge Apartment Complex (220 South Lenola Road), Dogwood building for a report of a woman brandishing a firearm.
     Upon arrival officers made contact with the victim who reported becoming involved in a physical altercation with their neighbor across the hall and that after the altercation the neighbor began hitting the victim’s door with a golf club. The victim reports leaving the the apartment and upon returning with two friends, the neighbor came out of her apartment brandishing a firearm at all three subjects and making bias statements. The neighbor identified as Ceatta Thomas, a 51 year old female of Maple Shade, N.J. returned to her apartment after the incident. Officers were able to corroborate the victim’s account of the incident through apartment complex video surveillance. The victim was transported to the hospital by the Maple Shade First Aid Squad to be treated for injuries sustained during the physical altercation. Maple Shade Police officers were unable to make contact with Thomas at her residence as she refused to answer the door.  The New Jersey State Police TEAMS Unit was dispatched to the scene and with the assistance of a State Police Negotiator were eventually able to take Thomas into custody without incident at 8:50 AM. Upon the execution of a legal process a search revealed a .32 Caliber revolver inside Thomas’s apartment.
     Thomas is charged with the following offenses, Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purpose (2^nd degree), Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purpose (4^th degree), Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (2^nd degree), Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (4^th degree) Terroristic threats (third degree), Aggravated Assault (fourth degree), Bias Intimidation (second degree), Simple Assault (DP) and Criminal Mischief (DP).
     The investigation was handled by the Maple Shade Police Department with assistance from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police. All parties are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.