— Deputy Mayor Joe Petsch publicly apologized for a typo in a political advertisement that implicated a Franklin Township police officer who was killed in the line of duty almost two decades ago.

In an advertisement that ran in the Sentinel newspaper on Tuesday, the Republican Petsch along with his Republican candidate Jim Kelly took aim at his Democratic opponents Lou Gonzalez, Sheryl Neely and Ed Leopardi for running what it called a "smear campaign."

However, a two-letter typo has caused some fervor over the advertisement to the point where Gonzalez called it "inexcusable."

Lou Gonzalez was misspelt as Lee Gonzalez, Lou Gonzalez's brother who, while serving for the Franklin Township police department in 1995, was shot and killed by Robert "Mudman" Simon.

Petsch said it was an error on his part at Tuesday night's committee meeting, saying that he had missed the error after proofreading the advertisement.

"There was no desire to involve an individual, with whom I've worked and have a lot of respect for, in the political arena," said Petsch Tuesday.

The error added more fuel to what was already a heated race between the two sides. The results of the November election with Petsch and Kelly running against Neely and Gonzalez will determine which political party controls the committee.

Contact staff writer Phil Davis at 856-686-3631 or pdavis@southjerseymedia.com