Victor Cirilo Charged With DWI

A West Orange council member was arrested in Verona and charged with drunken driving and two other charges, Verona Police Chief Douglas Huber said Tuesday morning.

Police stopped council president Victor Cirilo’s car shortly after midnight Friday, Nov. 9, after he made a turn from Bloomfield Avenue onto Mount Prospect Avenue (Route 23), Nov. 9, Huber said.

He was administered a field sobriety test, Huber said, but refused to take a blood alcohol test and was arrested.

Cirilo also faces careless driving and failure to keep right charges and was issued a summons to appear in Verona Municipal Court on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Cirilo apologized for the arrest in a letter to the editor immediately after his arrest last week, saying he intends to fight the charges and asking residents to not make a rush to judgment.

West Orange officials refused comment on the arrest last week, according to a statement released by township public information officer Jessica Glicker.

Cirilo, who won his first council term in 2010, was elected in the township’s non-partisan elections. The term expires in 2014.

He is employed as the executive director of the housing authority of the city of Passaic and has served West Orange as a board member of the Downtown West Orange Alliance and the John Renna House, as well as serving stints on the West Orange Public Library Board and the West Orange Valley Revitalization Committee.

Cirilo also served as the field director for Sen. Robert Menendez’s suburban Essex County campaign operation and as chief of staff for state Assemb. John McKeon.