TRENTON — An off-duty police officer has been suspended without pay after he was photographed sleeping in his patrol car between assignments Wednesday morning.

Officer Richard Takach, a 12-year member of the force, had worked a 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift and a side job from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., a police union official said. In a photo posted on Twitter, he was shown sleeping during an hour-long break before his regular shift was to resume at 8 a.m.

The officer was in his city uniform in a marked patrol car when he fell asleep. He is scheduled to have a departmental hearing on Monday related to the incident.

Detective Peter Szpakowski, a police spokesman, said an internal affairs investigation is underway but declined further comment.

Policemen's Benevolent Association president George Dzurkoc noted that Takach was technically off-duty at the time.

“The suspension is absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “It doesn't appear that the department is doing a thorough investigation on things before overreacting with comments in the paper about officers’ wrongdoings.”

He said that he is confident the suspension will not be upheld.

“At the end of the day, you are going to find out that this is an unwarranted suspension," he said.

Contact David Karas at (609) 989-5731 or dkaras@njtimes.com.

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