Teh One Who Knocks
02-23-2012, 10:38 PM
By Karl de Vries/The Star-Ledger
KINNELON — A borough man who serves on a committee aimed at strengthening local anti-underage drinking laws allegedly provided teens with a place to drink last week, right before a teenager got into a DWI crash, authorities said.
Mark Gaw, 55, was charged with a disorderly persons offense after a 17-year-old crashed a 1996 Acura into a tree on Twin Lakes Drive around midnight last Friday, said Kinnelon police Lt. John Schwartz. The boy, who was returning to the house after having dropped off two girls, told police he had been drinking at Gaw's residence with other teens.
The 17-year-old, who was alone in the car at the time of the crash, was not hurt. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, underage possession and consumption of alcohol and several motor vehicle violations, Schwartz said.
Gaw is a member of a volunteer committee, consisting of residents appointed by the borough's council, that is researching ways to create a new law that would authorize police to enforce underage drinking laws on private property, Schwartz said. The lieutenant added that residents have become increasingly concerned about such behavior among high school students.
"We hear that this happens quite a bit," Schwartz said. "It's been our experience that kids aren't having a beer at a party; they're binge drinking, and they're hurting themselves and other people."
Tonight, Gaw said neither him nor his high school-aged daughter provided alcohol, and said the alleged drinking occurred when he had left his house for a few hours to pick up his son, who was visiting from college.
"Whatever was going on stopped the moment I came home," Gaw said.
He added that he was concerned the incident would tar the committee's work, and said he plans to apologize to its members personally.
Committee chairman Patrick Caserta said Gaw is a productive member of the committee, and doesn't believe the incident will affect the credibility of the group's recommendations, which will be submitted to the borough council in the upcoming weeks.
"It's a bit of an irony that a person who volunteered to be on such a committee is charged with such a thing," Schwartz said. "It's kind of disappointing."
KINNELON — A borough man who serves on a committee aimed at strengthening local anti-underage drinking laws allegedly provided teens with a place to drink last week, right before a teenager got into a DWI crash, authorities said.
Mark Gaw, 55, was charged with a disorderly persons offense after a 17-year-old crashed a 1996 Acura into a tree on Twin Lakes Drive around midnight last Friday, said Kinnelon police Lt. John Schwartz. The boy, who was returning to the house after having dropped off two girls, told police he had been drinking at Gaw's residence with other teens.
The 17-year-old, who was alone in the car at the time of the crash, was not hurt. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, underage possession and consumption of alcohol and several motor vehicle violations, Schwartz said.
Gaw is a member of a volunteer committee, consisting of residents appointed by the borough's council, that is researching ways to create a new law that would authorize police to enforce underage drinking laws on private property, Schwartz said. The lieutenant added that residents have become increasingly concerned about such behavior among high school students.
"We hear that this happens quite a bit," Schwartz said. "It's been our experience that kids aren't having a beer at a party; they're binge drinking, and they're hurting themselves and other people."
Tonight, Gaw said neither him nor his high school-aged daughter provided alcohol, and said the alleged drinking occurred when he had left his house for a few hours to pick up his son, who was visiting from college.
"Whatever was going on stopped the moment I came home," Gaw said.
He added that he was concerned the incident would tar the committee's work, and said he plans to apologize to its members personally.
Committee chairman Patrick Caserta said Gaw is a productive member of the committee, and doesn't believe the incident will affect the credibility of the group's recommendations, which will be submitted to the borough council in the upcoming weeks.
"It's a bit of an irony that a person who volunteered to be on such a committee is charged with such a thing," Schwartz said. "It's kind of disappointing."