Former Parsippany Cop Found Drunk, Unresponsive In Idling Car: Police

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – A former Parsippany police officer found himself on the wrong side of the law after an arrest for allegedly driving while intoxicated.

At 4:04 a.m. on Jan. 27, Parsippany Patrol Sergeant Cooper noticed a vehicle parked with its engine running at the Elks Lodge on Parsippany Road, police said. Cooper pulled in to the lot and found the driver sitting in the driver’s seat with his head tilted back and unresponsive, police said.

Cooper was able to wake the driver, later identified as William Makowitz, 72, of Sparta, after a few attempts of speaking to him, police said.

After an investigation Makowitz was arrested for driving while intoxicated and taken back to Parsippany Police Headquarters where he was charged with DWI and failure to submit breath tests.

Makowitz retired from the Parsippany Police Department as Deputy Chief in 2006 and currently receives a pension of more than $102,000 annually.