Cop that Crashed ATV Drunk in Wyckoff Wins Court Appeal

A Midland Park police officer convicted of DWI following an ATV crash in Wyckoff, hours after drinking during an official police exercise, won an appeal Wednesday that significantly reduced his sentence.

Joseph Gaeta, 31, a Wyckoff resident, was at a Bergen County Police Academy training exercise in Dec. 2011, where he consumed alcohol as part of a demonstration of field sobriety testing.

After being driven home from the exercise by another officer, authorities said at the time, Gaeta took out his ATV and crashed while attempting a right turn at the intersection of Godwin Avenue and Greenhaven Road, seriously injuring himself.

Gaeta’s blood alcohol level, during a test administered while at the training exercise four hours prior to the crash, was at .13 percent, police said at the time. Midland Park borough administrator Adeline Hanna, reached Thursday, said that Gaeta was suspended without pay from the police department following the incident, but could not comment on his current or future employment.

According to a report by Northjersey.com, Gaeta entered a guilty plea to a DWI charge in municipal court, and was sentenced to standard penalties including loss of license, fines and a treatment program, but later appealed the sentence.

Joseph Rem, Gaeta’s lawyer, said that following one unsuccessful appeal several months ago, the case was brought to Superior Court, where he contended that the sentence imposed should have been less severe because Gaeta was not driving an automobile.

“The legal issue was whether the drunk driving statutes apply to ATVs,” he told Patch.

The court agreed that they did not, and Gaeta’s sentence was reduced to a fine that will amount to a maximum of $200, Rem said.

“You’re not allowed to drive an ATV drunk, but if you do, the penalties are not as stiff as if you drive an automobile,” he said. “An ATV isn’t nearly as dangerous as a V8 Mercedes.”

The state legislature, however, disagrees with that assessment. It passed a bill in 2009 to apply regular DWI sentencing guidelines to ATV drivers, waiting until this year to implement the changes. According to the Northjersey.com report, the success of the appeal hinged on the fact that the changes to the law had not been in effect at the time of Gaeta's arrest.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which tried the case, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.