Iconic Jersey Devil statue stolen from famed Pine Barrens diner

Someone had stolen the devil — the carved-wood Jersey Devil perched outside Lucille’s Luncheonette in Warren Grove. Dragged the demon away in the dark. In the secluded heart of the Pine Barrens, where ghastly folklore runs deep, it was a crime that shocked.

“Your Jersey Devil is missing!” cried out a customer on the morning of June 24 to Karen Bates-Flynn, who runs the famed family eatery with her sister, Diane Brown. “There’s a piece of it in the driveway.”

The women, who had entered through the kitchen, hadn’t noticed that their bit of iconic South Jersey road decor was missing. But they were aghast. After all, who would dare swipe a sculpture of the strange beast said to stalk the Jersey forests? Who would destroy the symbol of the Pines?

“Who would be brazen enough?” asked Bates-Flynn.

Security cameras captured the devilish deed. Around 10 p.m., on June 23, an SUV towing a trailer with a Jeep drove past, then turned around and pulled into the diner’s gravel parking lot. The man driving the car hooked the six-foot statue with a tow strap. Then he dragged the wooden devil down Main Street, splintering the wing, before loading it onto his trailer.

Regulars at Lucille’s, beloved by locals and a destination spot for Shore-bound travelers three miles off the main road to Long Beach Island, were rocked.

“There was a Piney Posse,” cracked employee Laura Grentz.

Within days, the Stafford Township Police Department issued a warrant for a suspect: Thomas L. Bintz, 52, of Chandlersville, Ohio, for criminal mischief and theft. The crimes do not meet the criteria for extradition, said Capt. James Haldenwang of the Stafford Township Police. Bintz could not be reached for comment. He remains on the run. Police hope he will soon turn himself in, and would not speculate on a motive. Whether it was stolen on a whim or as a prank, or if Bintz meant to destroy the carving. Investigators were not shy about expressing their Piney pride.

“The Jersey Devil is obviously part of the lore of South Jersey,” said Haldenwang. “It is something that is deeply entrenched in the culture here, and people take a lot of pride in it.”

The Jersey Devil has long been the mascot at Lucille’s. It began with Brown and Bates-Flynn’s mother, Lucille Bates-Wickward, who opened the diner in 1975, with her husband, Jim. A kind and outgoing woman, Lucille loved to hear the stories of the travelers who found her diner. In turn, she regaled them with tales and terrors of the Pines.

“She was very playful and loved to get a rise out of people,” said Bates-Flynn.

Her favorite folklore by far was the legend of the Jersey Devil. That clawed and cloven kangaroo-like creature with wings, a forked tail, and the head of a horse. That cursed child of old Mother Leeds that breathed fire and fed on chickens and pets and terrorized residents on both sides of the Delaware River. Soon, one of Lucille’s nieces designed T-shirts that showed the beast and read: “I ate with the Jersey Devil.” The shirts sold as fast as the delicious blueberry pies.

When Anthony Bourdain visited Lucille’s in 2015, he enjoyed a heaping meal of eggs, scrapple, chili, and pie — and rhapsodized about childhood memories of hearing about the Jersey Devil. He described the welcoming diner as “disconcertingly friendly.”

After their mother died in 2016, Brown and Bates-Flynn carried on the lore.

About six years ago, Joe Wenal, a chainsaw carver who runs the popular traveling arts competition “Carve Wars,” reached out to Lucille’s with an offer. Wenal, who grew up near in nearby Cedar Run, would be competing in New Jersey. Would they be interested if he carved a Jersey Devil?

“He carved us this gorgeous statue, and we bought it from him,” said Bates-Flynn.

Soon, locals and tourists alike posed by the statue of the Jersey Devil.

“It was our Loch Ness Monster,” said Brown.

Wenal carved the scowling statue out of white pine, staining it with timber oil to give it a demonly shade. He estimated the statue weighed about 900 pounds. And about 1,500 pounds soaking wet, as it likely would have been when it was snatched after so much heavy rain.

“I almost rather it would have just been stolen,” Wenal said. “To see him dragged and destroyed, it just broke my heart.”

The Piney Posse is simmering. For their part, Brown and Bates-Flynn have hired Wenal to carve a new Jersey Devil. They’ve directed the outpouring of donations to David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation, a local organization that helps cancer patients. But they want restitution. And so would Lucille, they said.

“She was a tough girl,” said Brown. ”She’d want her Jersey Devil.”