Man who admits burgling Jersey shore homes including Bon Jovi’s will do 5 years

A New Jersey man who admitted burglarizing a string of homes at the Jersey shore, including the home of rocker Jon Bon Jovi, is in line for some bad medicine: He’s likely to get five years in prison.

Nicholas Tracy, 22, of Beachwood pleaded guilty Tuesday in state Superior Court in Freehold to three counts of theft and burglary from a spree that netted him more than $300,000 worth of jewelry and personal items from the homes.

The thefts took place on March 14, April 1 and April 3 of 2011 along the Middletown Township road where Bon Jovi lives. Ten days after the last break-in, Middletown police responded to another report of a burglary in the area and located Tracy inside a residence in the midst of committing the crime, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

He declined to comment on what was taken from the home of the multi-platinum-selling rocker, but court papers have alleged jewelry worth $100,000 was taken from the Bon Jovi home.

Police say at least some of the stolen property has been recovered.

Tracy will be sentenced on Oct. 12 to five years in prison next month under the terms of a plea deal before Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner.

He also is awaiting trial on several burglary charges from Toms River earlier this year, and remains jailed until they can be heard. In those cases, from March and February, the homes were broken into and burglarized.

Toms River police said they followed a van from the scene of a burglary at a vacant home, and arrested Tracy. A search of his home and vehicle turned up items that were stolen from three homes.

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC