Democratic Mayor’s Career in Jeopardy Following Admission of Drunk Driving Incident

A former New Jersey Democratic mayor who confessed to consuming vodka before driving her child from daycare has sidestepped incarceration despite being convicted on multiple counts.

Gina LaPlaca, the 46-year-old former mayor of Lumberton Township, entered a guilty plea to charges of fourth-degree child abuse and driving under the influence, nearly a year after a startling bodycam video surfaced, according to prosecutors.

Judge Craig A. Ambrose ordered LaPlaca to three years of supervision under the Pretrial Intervention program, designed for first-time offenders, following her arrest on March 17, 2025.

As a participant in the program, she must regularly verify her attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and is required to use an ignition interlock device in her car, as reported by NBC Philadelphia.

Though she was removed from her mayoral position in January, LaPlaca remains on the Township Committee and has expressed her desire to move past the incident through an extensive Facebook post.

‘I have never felt more humbled than I do standing before my community today. The weight of my actions is something I carry deeply. What I did was wrong,’ she said.

She said that she ‘struggled privately with alcoholism’ for ‘many years’ before the infamous video.

‘Addiction does not excuse my behavior, but it does explain the work I must continue to do. I am fully committed to my recovery. That commitment begins with my family – especially my children – and extends to every part of my life. Recovery is not a statement; it is daily, intentional work.’ 

The ex-New Jersey Democrat mayor who admitted to drinking vodka before driving her toddler home from daycare avoided jail time after being found guilty on several charges 

Former Lumberton Township Mayor Gina LaPlaca, 46 pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child abuse and driving under the influence just over a year after the shocking bodycam video, prosecutors said 

In a chaotic scene outside her $640,000 home officers confronted her after a 911 caller reported her BMW 5-Series swerving across the road nearly striking a utility pole all while her two-year-old son was in the back seat.

LaPlaca, visibly intoxicated, staggered into the street and admitted to officers she’d been drinking ‘a little bit of vodka’. 

She failed multiple sobriety tests and police found open containers of alcohol in her vehicle.

‘I’m sorry,’ LaPlaca said tearfully as she was handcuffed. An officer gently responded, ‘That’s okay.’ 

LaPlaca was seen on bodycam footage stumbling and slurring her words after she was approached by cops outside her home at around 5:40pm. 

An officer spoke to LaPlaca as she picked her young toddler out of her powerful BMW 5-Series sedan, asking her: ‘Are you okay?’ 

‘Yes, I am,’ she responds, before staggering toward her car almost immediately, as a cop asked about the sedan’s ruined passenger wing mirror. 

LaPlaca was ordered to take a field sobriety test on the street outside her home, and after being asked what she had drank, she responded: ‘A little bit of vodka.’ 

It was March 2025 when LaPlaca was seen stumbling out of her vehicle after swerving on the road

The mayor was seen struggling to place one foot in front of the other as she failed the sobriety test, before she began weeping as she was placed in handcuffs. 

‘I’m sorry,’ she added to officers, to which one responds: ‘That’s okay.’ 

LaPlaca was charged with driving under the influence and faced calls for her resignation from her Lumberton constituents.

Police said they confronted LaPlaca at her home after a bystander reported seeing her driving erratically earlier in the afternoon, reports 6ABC. 

The witness was seen in bodycam footage telling officers he saw LaPlaca’s vehicle swerving off the road, and the footage showed the side wingmirror on the mayor’s vehicle had been damaged. 

The witness went on to say they grew more concerned after realizing she had a toddler in her backseat. 

After the mayor was arrested outside her home, officers searched her vehicle and found a small liquor bottle and a water bottle with alcohol in it. 

She had reportedly told officers that she had just come back home from picking up her two-year-old from daycare.  

Police officers quickly placed LaPlaca in cuffs after she failed field sobriety tests

The mom-of-one was placed under arrest and into the back of a police cruiser 

Gina LaPlaca, 46, the Democrat Mayor of Lumberton, is seen in some of her Facebook photos. LaPLaca was seen stumbling and slurring her words after she was approached by cops

Her two-year-old son was sitting in the back seat of her car when police caught her at home

LaPlaca’s husband, former Westampton fire chief Jason Carty, has urged the public to back off, arguing that her personal struggles shouldn’t define her legacy

Shortly after her arrest, LaPlaca’s husband Jason Carty said she was seeking treatment for addiction in rehab.

He told Asbury Park Press that his wife was on her ‘first step on her road to recovery’, adding: ‘This is not a political issue. This is not a Republican or Democrat (issue), it is a human being issue. 

‘People suffer from addiction and many people don’t get help. She is finally getting the help she needs… unfortunately you have to hit rock bottom before you get better. This is obviously rock bottom.’ 

LaPlaca was elected to the Township Committee in Lumberton in 2020 and re-elected in 2023, however her arrest came just a week after she resigned as business administrator in neighboring Neptune Township. 

She had previously been arrested at her home in 2023 after she was accused of assaulting her husband, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. 

Charges against her were later dismissed and the arrest was expunged from her record, with Carty later saying he took responsibility for the incident. 

She had shockingly returned to office within two months and refused to resign despite a recall effort. 

Her replacement, Terrance Benson, was selected by the same Township Committee that LaPlaca remains a member of.