Manhunt nabs suspect accused of zapping woman with Taser in Jackson Wawa parking lot

JACKSON - Authorities have arrested a man who has been wanted since late September, accused of choking and assaulting a woman with a Taser in a Wawa parking lot, according to a Facebook post on the township police department's Facebook page.

Jesse J. Shawger, 26 of Toms River, was located and taken into custody Tuesday by the Ocean County Sheriff's Department, police said. He is charged with criminal restraint, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and aggravated assault.

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The investigation into Shawger began around 2:20 p.m. Sept. 24 when police said they responded to a residence on Melissa Lee Drive "on the report of a female who had reportedly come out of a nearby wooded area screaming for help and was found by a resident."

The woman told police that she picked up Shawger at a Jackson residence and drove with him to a nearby Wawa parking lot, where the two stayed in the car and talked, police said.

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The woman told police that when they were talking Shawger began using cocaine. During this time the woman also told police that he choked her, shocked her with a Taser multiple times and threatened further harm if she called alerted police, police said.

The woman the crawled into the back seat of the vehicle and the suspect "drove away with her trapped in the rear and unable to exit the vehicle as the child safety locks were engaged," police said.

Police said Shawger drove to Melissa Lee Drive where he threw the woman's cellphone into the woods and left on foot.

Keith Schubert is the morning breaking news reporter. He is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota and has worked in multiple newsrooms including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He can be contacted via text, call or signal at (732) 239-8731 or emailed at kschubert@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @keithsch94.