Police chief’s son pleads guilty

Anthony J. Gaylord Jr. faces up to a year in jail.

By: David Campbell
   Anthony J. Gaylord Jr., the son of Princeton Township’s chief of police, pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of unlawful possession of a handgun, Mercer County First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Waldron said this week.
   Mr. Gaylord, 22, told Superior Court Judge Paul T. Koenig Jr. that he has completed a drug-treatment program and is currently undergoing outpatient counseling, Mr. Waldron said.
   Two counts of aggravated assault as well as single counts of possession of hollow-point bullets and theft by unlawful taking are expected to be dismissed under Mr. Gaylord’s plea agreement when he is sentenced April 11, the assistant prosecutor said.
   The plea bargain carries a probationary term of five years following up to one year in jail.
   "He was not given any breaks or benefits that others might not be entitled to," Mr. Waldron said. "He was not treated more harshly as the son of a police officer."
   Mr. Gaylord Jr. was arrested Aug. 7, 2001, for pointing a stolen .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun at two young men at John and Maclean streets in Princeton Borough after an argument, police said.
   His $15,000 bail was set with the condition that he enter directly into a drug-treatment program upon leaving jail.
   Bail was revoked the following month and a bench warrant issued for his arrest after the Prosecutor’s Office learned he had not entered a program as promised.
   Following that incident, Mr. Gaylord checked into the Post House, a drug rehabilitation facility in Burlington County.