Mayor of Lumberton, arrested for alleged DUI, censured for ethical violations as her husband asks for privacy

Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca, who was arrested last month for allegedly driving while intoxicated with her then 2-year-old son in the car, was censured by the township committee last week for alleged ethical violations.

The ongoing story has garnered widespread attention, with township residents expressing anger over the notoriety.

LaPlaca’s husband, Jason Carty, in a phone interview with The Inquirer, pleaded for calm, revealing that his wife, 45, is “in an inpatient facility and on a path to recovery.”

“It’s not like she’s the mayor of some big city. Lumberton has only 13,000 people. All I want is for my wife to get better and for everyone to leave her alone,” Carty said.

Earlier in the week, Gov. Phil Murphy urged LaPlaca to “put aside … her public duties.”

On Thursday night, the township committee’s four members unanimously agreed to the censure, which includes three alleged violations of ethics, according to committee member Terrance Benson.

Benson said in the meeting that the first violation was “asking for the [police] chief allegedly while being arrested.”

The second, he said, was allegedly endangering a child.

And the third was allegedly driving under the influence, he said.

The arrest has been widely viewed on video taken from police body cameras.

Benson and other Lumberton officials would not discuss the censure or how it would affect LaPlaca’s term as mayor. During the meeting, Benson, who preceded LaPlaca as mayor, called for her to step down.

While a censure is a formal statement of disapproval, it does not remove the person from office.

LaPlaca is due in court April 28 to face several charges, including driving under the influence and child endangerment, records show.

Police were tight-lipped about their investigation into the matter, which includes questions about LaPlaca’s alleged drinking.

Also, Benson said during the meeting, “it’s being investigated who gave her child to her” to drive home.

On Friday morning, Carty said in a brief interview that LaPlaca missed their son’s third birthday while in treatment.

He also expressed frustration over how so many media outlets have tried to contact him, with many inundating him with phone calls and notes left at the front door of his home.

The video of LaPlaca being questioned by police and then arrested has been widely seen online, Carty said, fueling public interest.

“This is a crushing media cycle that just won’t end,” he said. “How many cycles do we need to do?

Last month, LaPlaca resigned from her position as the Neptune Township business administrator, a job she had held since January 2022, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Her resignation came shortly after a video was posted online of LaPlaca cursing and being escorted by police out of a Mount Holly Fire Commissioners meeting after a heated verbal exchange with audience members who had been criticizing Carty, who is a firefighter, the Asbury Park Press reported

Under rainy skies on Friday, people in Lumberton were talking about LaPlaca.

Outside the township Walmart store, Lisa Koonce, 54, who owns a kitchen and bath design business in town, said: “What she did endangering that child was such a serious offense.

“Everybody’s human, but she’s fallen from grace. I wish her well, but she couldn’t be an effective leader at this time.”

A few miles away, at the South Jersey Regional Airport in Lumberton, people were watching the planes while eating eggs at the Runway Cafe.

LaPlaca’s name came up.

“She absolutely has to resign,” said Bruce Gsell, 58, who works in construction and lives in a neighboring community.

“What she did was horrible and deplorable, and so unprofessional.”

Taking a more conciliatory tone, retired carpenter Pete Jaye, 73, of Lumberton, was asking for people to show patience with LaPlaca.

“I believe in second chances,” he said. “When it comes to unusual behavior, you don’t know what’s in people’s minds, and what they’re dealing with.”

Across town, Amy Callahan, 45, a business owner who had attended the Thursday meeting where she had criticized the township committee for not acting swiftly enough, was seething.

She and others were discussing how LaPlaca can be removed from office, which could be accomplished with a recall election.

“In Lumberton, people believe that Gina not only endangered her child, but everyone on the road when she was driving that day,” she said.

Callahan was particularly upset at LaPlaca’s alleged attempt, according to the censure, to influence her encounter with police when she asked for the police chief, Anthony Nippins, by name.

“She wanted Anthony to make it go away,” Callahan said.

Ultimately, Callahan said, Lumberton residents are “hurt and betrayed.”

“Will anyone even want to move here now? Gina has put a black cloud over this town.”