July 31, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES 11, III & IV • Page 11 Council mulls options as Gaeta seeks reinstatement Midland Park officials remained silent on the issue of reinstatement for police officer Joseph Gaeta. Gaeta was suspended without pay in 2011 after pleading guilty to driving an all-terrain vehicle while drunk. The inci- dent took place in Wyckoff. On July 17, the appellate division overturned Gaeta’s sen- tence and remanded the case to municipal court in Hackensack. That court found that his sole penalty should be a fine of $150. The officer is now seeking reinstatement. “We fully expect and hope he will be quickly reinstated and continue his career,” said Joseph Rem Jr., Gaeta’s attorney. Rem characterized the 2011 incident as a minor offense. Gaeta reportedly had been involved in DWI training at the Law & Public Safety Institute on Dec. 15, 2011, and volunteered to drink beer and undergo field sobriety tests performed by trainees. Four hours later, when Gaeta was off-duty, he had an accident with an ATV. He was reportedly driving the ATV along Godwin Avenue in Wyckoff, and turned onto Greenhaven Avenue, where the ATV overturned and crashed. Gaeta’s blood alcohol content was mea- sured at 0.135 percent. The state’s legal limit is currently 0.08 percent. Wyckoff police filed various charges, including DWI. In municipal court, Gaeta noted that this was his first DWI offense, and requested that his sentence only involve a fine. At that time, Gaeta was fined $306, and compelled to pay court costs and surcharges. His driver’s license was sus- pended, and he was sentenced to a dozen hours at the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center. The sentence, however, remained on hold while Gaeta pursued an appeal. In his appeal, Gaeta claimed that, because he was driving an ATV and not a car, truck, or similar motor vehicle, the penalties were illegal. At the time of his offense, New Jersey law limited the penalty that could be imposed to only a fine of up to $200, Gaeta said. In ruling in Gaeta’s favor, the appeals court found that the stricter statute adopted in 2009 had not yet taken effect in 2011, and opted to reverse the original sentence. “We are waiting for the administrative wheels to grind together,” Rem said last week, noting that Gaeta looks forward to returning to his work in Midland Park’s police department. “I have no doubt he will be quickly reinstated,” Rem concluded. Borough officials, however, declined to comment on what action might be taken in this case. Midland Park’s labor attorney, Ray Wiss, said Gaeta had initially been found guilty of DWI, conduct unbecoming a police officer. Had the charges been upheld, Wiss noted, Gaeta would have lost his driver’s license and, therefore, could not have fulfilled his duties as a police officer. Wiss noted that Police Chief Michael Marra would be responsible for making the recommendation as to whether Gaeta should return to the department. Gaeta joined the Midland Park Police Department in 2006.