Wildwood Employee Pleads Guilty in Meter Caper

WILDWOOD — A former Wildwood city employee plead guilty to helping himself to $980.60 from the city’s parking meters.
Albert L. Peter, 72, of Rio Grande, told Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten on Oct. 8 that he was working as a parking meter repairman this summer when he took quarters from the city’s parking meters.
In exchange for his guilty plea to the third-degree theft, Peter will receive a probationary sentence and 90 days in the Cape May County jail. The Prosecutor’s Office will also drop the more serious charge of official misconduct, a second-degree crime, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Rob Johnson said.
Commissioner Gary DeMarzo, who oversees the Department of Revenue and Finance, first tipped off police about the possibility of criminal activity by Peter, when he was as-signed to the parking meter maintenance and collection division in July.
Two bank bags were found by police in Peter’s car, containing $980.60, mostly quarters.
At the time of the initial arrest DeMarzo said in a press release that there had been several enhancements to the auditing and security of the parking division.
“These security features were well worth the investment and although I cannot stop people from being dishonest, I can certainly hold them accountable,” he said in a release.