An Atlantic City police officer has avoided penalties forassault charges filed against him last year.
Sterling Wheaten was charged last October 2022 in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with simple assault and harassment over an alleged altercation with his ex-girlfriend.
At a hearing Monday, Wheaten, who has been an Atlantic City police officer since 2007, pleaded guilty to two “non-traffic, non-criminal tickets” for “making unreasonable noise,” his attorney, Paul Gregory Lang, told NJ Advance Media. He received no penalties or stipulations, and the case was closed Monday, Lang said.
The attorney said prosecutors with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office were limited to the woman’s statements, which he said he contested.
“We dispute everything alleged that was criminal,” Lang said. “He certainly did not commit any crimes that day.”
A spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.
Wheaten was accused of assaulting the woman at a home in October before leaving the residence. Atlantic City police suspended him after being informed of the charges. Atlantic City police said Wheaten remains suspended from the force. His suspension will be evaluated following Monday’s hearing, police said.
Wheaten, in 2013, used a police dog to restrain a then-20-year-old David Castellani on an Atlantic City street. Castellani was injured after the dog bit him several times, leading the city to reach a $3 million settlement in a civil case.
The U.S. Department of Justice, in 2018, charged Wheaten with violating Castellani’s amendment rights to unlawful restraint over the mauling attack. Wheaten was tried and acquitted in Camden federal court in 2022, with the defense winning the argument he acted appropriately to restrain Castellani.
Wheaten subsequentlysued the city for back pay owed while he was suspended over his federal charges, later settling with the city.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
