Midland Park police officer suspended over drunken driving ATV crash hopes to return to the force



 A suspended Midland police officer hope to be reinstated, two years after he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated.File photo

MIDLAND PARK — A borough police officer hopes to return to the force after being suspended for drunkenly crashing an all-terrain vehicle, Midland Park Suburban News reported.
Joseph B. Gaeta seeks to be reinstated to the police department, and is hopeful that an April 15 meeting between his and the borough's attorneys could lead to his return to the force.
In December 2011, Gaeta drank as part of a training exercise to show the effects of alcohol at the Bergen County Police Academy in Mahwah. Another officer drove him home after the exercise, but four hours later, Gaeta allegedly crashed an ATV on Greenhaven Road in Wyckoff. His blood-alcohol level was .135 percent at the time of the crash.

Gaeta was suspended without pay two years ago. The court suspended his driver's license and ordered him to participate in the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center's driver safety program.