Police Searching for Ocean Gate Man in Connection with Assault on Two-Year-Old

An Ocean Gate man faces a number of charges related to a domestic violence incident early Friday morning that left a two-year-old boy injured.

Joseph Ciccone III, 23, 410 Ocean Gate Avenue, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, threatening to kill, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal restraint, said Deputy Detective Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Police responded to the scene at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning. The toddler suffered lacerations to his head and back and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, he said.

Mohel did not release the circumstances of the domestic violence incident, but said that Ciccone also threw knives at the boy's mother.

"That's all I can release right now," Mohel said this morning. "The child was in the middle."

Ocean County Superior Court Judge Wendell Daniels has set Ciccone's bail at $150,000, with no ten percent option.

"If the public can assist us in locating this individual, it will be greatly appreciated," Mohel said.

Anyone with information about Ciccone's whereabouts should call Detective John Murphy at the prosecutor office at 732-929-2027, ext. 2422, Ocean Gate Police Detective Michael Kuchta at 732-269-2468, or Ocean County Sheriff's Detective Tim Duffy at the warrants unit at 732-929-2044, Mohel said.

The child was released from the hospital on Monday and is staying with relatives at an undisclosed location, Mohel said.