TWO S. JERSEY OFFICERS CHARGED IN DRUG PROBE

They Were Included In A Widening Investigation In Gloucester County After
An Arrest Sunday.

Two additional police officers in Gloucester County were charged yesterday
with official misconduct in a widening drug probe that has prompted the
county prosecutor to require random drug testing of all law enforcement
employees just after the first of the year.

Harrison Township officer Michael J. Thiel, 32, and Washington Township
officer John S. Lombardo, 30, were charged yesterday with official
misconduct for allegedly possessing and using drugs. Until his arrest,
Lombardo was a member of the county's Narcotics Strike Force, a special
detail of local police officers involved in long-range drug investigations.

Authorities did not disclose the specific circumstances surrounding the
arrests of Thiel and Lombardo, which came four days after police arrested
Washington Township officer Amalio S. Gurcsik for trying to buy $40 worth
of cocaine from an undercover officer in Cherry Hill.

County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton said there is no evidence that the three
officers used drugs while they on duty. He said it did not appear that drug
use within the two departments was widespread.

Washington Township has 84 officers; Harrison has 16.

Dalton would not comment on the number of officers being investigated in
Harrison and Washington Townships, but he said every officer suspected by
county investigators of drug use has been required to take a drug test over
the past few days.

"It's important for the residents of Gloucester County to know that the
investigation does not indicate a pervasive use of illicit substances in
any police department," Dalton said.

Lombardo, a five-year veteran, has been a member of the county strike force
since June, Dalton said. Thiel has worked for the Harrison Township
department for four years.

Bail for each was set at $5,000. Lombardo and Thiel were released on their
own recognizance after turning in their guns and badges.

The charges against the two officers followed Gurcsik's arrest Sunday
night. Gurcsik is accused of driving his marked patrol car to Cherry Hill
to buy two $20 bags of cocaine. He reportedly tried to buy the drugs from
an undercover investigator from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

The three-year police veteran was scheduled to work a Sunday night shift.
Instead, authorities said, he called out sick and drove his police cruiser
from his Washington Township condo to the King of Pizza on Route 70 in
Cherry Hill.

Gurcsik had been under surveillance for about a month, Dalton said. The
three officers face dismissal from their respective departments. No officer
who has been charged with drug offenses has ever been allowed to remain on
a Gloucester County police force, Dalton said.

Random drug testing of all law enforcement personnel will begin just after
Jan. 1. Dalton said his staff would be among the first tested.

Burlington County has required random testing of 20 percent of all
municipal officers during the last two years, said Sgt. Jack Smith of the
Burlington County Prosecutor's Office. Camden County has required local
police departments to perform random tests for the last year, according to
county law enforcement officials. Police departments are required to report
the results to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. When asked whether he
thought the unions that represent Gloucester County police would object to
the random testing, Dalton said, "I would hope not." Thomas Cushane,
president of Washington Township Regional Lodge No. 86 of the Fraternal
Order of Police, declined to discuss specifics of the case. "It's an issue
that's more appropriately addressed by the state office of the FOP, the
state Attorney General's Office, and the county Prosecutors Office,"
Cushane said. Stuart J. Alterman, an attorney for the Washington Township
Police Benevolent Association Chapter 318, who also is representing Thiel,
said he hoped investigators would proceed with caution. "My client
possessed no drugs," Alterman said. "This started out as a confidential
internal investigation that should have remained confidential until
appropriately released to the public because there are sensitive issues
involved."