BY LINH TAT
CLIFFSIDE PARK A police sergeant and 14-year veteran of the
borough Police Department has been charged with aggravated assault for punching
a fellow officer in the jaw, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office announced
Friday.
Sgt. Michael Giampietro, 37, of
River Edge, walked up from behind while the officer was talking to a third
party and struck him, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said. Both
officers were off duty during the March 28 incident, which took place outside a
River Edge residence, the prosecutor said.
Molinelli declined to discuss
the circumstances that led up to the altercation but said there was no specific
issue between the parties. Authorities would not release the name of the other
officer because he is the victim.
Giampietro, who was issued a
summons by the Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday, referred questions to his
attorney when reached by phone. His attorney, Bob Galantucci, was not available
for comment.
Assigned to the Cliffside Park
Police Department’s detective bureau, Giampietro was promoted to sergeant in
February 2013 and earns an annual salary of $124,211, according to borough
spokesman Bill Maer. He has no prior disciplinary record, the spokesman said.
Giampietro has not been
suspended, said Maer, adding that the department is following the state
Attorney General’s guidelines for handling matters such as this.
“His employment status has not
changed,” Maer said. “He is still subject to departmental review and potential
charges from the department.”
The Cliffside Park Police
Department is working closely with the Prosecutor’s Office, Maer added.
Giampietro is scheduled to be
arraigned Thursday. He faces a single count of aggravated assault, which is a
third-degree crime.
“Even though he’s a police
officer he’s held to the same standards as everyone else,” Molinelli said.
