Suspended
Midland Park cop trying to regain his job
BY EMILY MASTERS
MIDLAND PARK - A borough police
officer who was suspended after he crashed an all-terrain vehicle on a Wyckoff
street and was charged with driving while intoxicated is trying to be
reinstated to his patrol duties.
Officer Joseph B. Gaeta pleaded
guilty to driving an all-terrain vehicle down Godwin Avenue while intoxicated
in 2011 and was suspended without pay.
Gaeta’s attorney, Joseph P.
Rem, said his client is challenging the suspension on the grounds that it was
too harsh.
“His position is that the
offense did not warrant the drastic remedy,” said Rem.
A hearing last week began the
appeal process, which is expected to continue for several weeks before a
hearing officer makes a decision in August. At that point, the Midland Park
Council can vote on the reinstatement. Gaeta or the Police Department can appeal
the hearing officer’s recommendation.
Gaeta was arrested a few hours
after he had participated in DWI enforcement training at the Bergen County
Police Academy on Dec. 15, 2011. He drank alcohol at the training as part of an
exercise that allowed other officers to perform sobriety tests on him. While
off duty a few hours later, Gaeta drove his all-terrain vehicle down Godwin
Avenue in Wyckoff. He overturned and crashed the ATV when he turned onto
Greenhaven Road. His blood alcohol content was measured as 0.135 percent, Rem
said. The state limit for driving is 0.08.
After the 2011 incident, the
Wyckoff police investigated the case and issued summons, which included a DWI
charge. Gaeta was fined $306 and court costs, his driver’s license was
suspended and he was sentenced to participate in the Intoxicated Driver
Resource Center’s driver safety program. On appeal he argued that because he
was driving an ATV, the maximum sentence he could receive was a $200 fine under
state law. He won the appeal and was resentenced to lesser charges and a $150
fine in July 2013.
“Until the officer had his full
day in court on his DWI appeal, [Midland Park] agreed to hold any disciplinary
charges in abeyance,” said Borough Attorney Raymond Wiss.
Gaeta was injured in the
accident and was on paid medical leave from the police force for
four-and-a-half months. During that time, Detective Sgt. John Gibbons, the
department’s internal affairs officer, investigated the incident to see if
Gaeta had violated department rules and regulations. Gibbons made a
disciplinary recommendation to acting Chief John Casson that he suspend Gaeta
without pay. In 2012, Casson retired and Michael Marra, as the new chief,
upheld the disciplinary action, said Wiss.
“An officer is allowed to
request a hearing to contest charges that are factually or legally erroneous or
recommend that the discipline is too harsh,” Wiss said. Gaeta “focuses on the
latter,” Wiss said.
The hearing officer, Matthew S.
Mahoney, was selected because he has legal experience as a captain in the Army
Judge Advocate General’s Corps and as a special assistant U.S. attorney, said
Wiss.
Mayor Patrick O’Hagan said that
because Gaeta is the son of late Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Gaeta, the
borough wanted “someone unbiased.”
At the closed-session hearing,
Marra and Gibbons “testified for the disciplinary actions they took against
Gaeta,” said Wiss. They were cross-examined by Rem, who did not call witnesses.
“An officer is allowed to
request a hearing to contest charges that are factually or legally erroneous or
recommend that the discipline is too harsh,” Wiss said. Gaeta “focuses on the
latter,” Wiss said.
Marra said he had “no comment.”
Gaeta did not respond to requests for comment and Rem declined to have his
client comment.
